Updated: September 27, 2024
Hi, friends! So ever since
my conversation with Roger Cohen from the New York
Times in Greece and since showing some of it on the Internet, I've been flooded by comments by both laypeople
and by physicists, and particularly
quantum physicists, basically
saying that quantum
consciousness or what I say about quantum
consciousness, is basically mumbo
jumbo, makes no sense,
pseudoscience, etc., etc.. So I think Roger
Cohen opened up a can of worms
in terms of resurrecting
the controversy. But let's look at this
a little bit. Okay. What is a quantum? Ask any physicists
and they'll tell you that a quantum
is the smallest unit
in which waves of energy and I would
add information are emitted
or absorbed. Okay. The smallest unit
in which waves of energy
are exchanged.
So we can think of
a quantum of light as a
photon, a quantum of electricity, as an electron, a quantum of gravity, if
there's such a thing, as a virtual graviton. So then
let's ask yourself, what is the thought? And I would
suggest to you that a thought is the smallest unit of energy and information in which ideas are exchanged
and absorbed. Idea, thought, energy, information,
smallest unit of of information and energy
in which waves are emitted
or absorbed. So let's take the thought,
"I'm going to wiggle my toes."
So that thought has energy. Otherwise, my toes
wouldn't wiggle. It also has
information. "Wiggling" to us is different
than, say, going swimming
information. And that one
little thought is a unit of energy
in information that triggers a
biological response. Okay, so what's
the difference between thought and a quantum event? They're both units of energy
and information in which
exchange occurs. So this idea, that
thoughts are similar to quantum
particles, is actually getting
a lot of attention.
And it has been
proposed by lots
of scientists and philosophers. Okay. One of the key
similarities between thoughts and quantum
particles is that
they both exist in a superposition
of states. This means that
a thought can exist as many different possibilities
at the same time, until it is observed
or measured. This is similar to how a quantum
particle can exist in
multiple positions or states
at the same time. Another similarity
between thoughts and quantum
particles is that they're both
non-local. That means you can't
find a location in space-time
for them. This means that they can be
interconnected and interact
with each other, even if they are separated
by large distances. This is similar
to how quantum particles
can be entangled, and that means that they are linked together
in such a way that they share
the same fate, even if they are
separated by a long
or large distance. Some proponents of quantum
consciousness believe that
these similarities suggest
that thoughts may be made up of
quantum particles, or that
they may interact with quantum
particles in some way.
They believe that this could explain some of the mysteries
of consciousness, such as how
we are able to have subjective
experiences and how we are able
to interact with the
world around us. So there you are. Now, if a thought and a neural network and the transmission electrochemically along
nerves, triggers a physiological
response, then the thought, the neural network and the biological response,
the biology itself and the perceptual activity
that goes with it have to be entangled as a unified process in a single reality. And that,
my friends, is quantum
consciousness. Thanks for
helping me expand this conversation,
particularly thanks to Roger
Cohen, who initiated this whole conversation in a very lively sort of Q&A
that we had a couple of days ago. Let me
know your thoughts..
