量子心灵

历史

尤金·维格纳提出了量子力学与心灵活动有关的想法。他认为波函数由于与意识的相互作用而坍缩。弗里曼·戴森说：“正如能做出选择的能力所体现的那样，意识在某种程度上来说与每个电子都有内在联系。”

一些其他当代物理学家和哲学家认为这些观点不可信。维克特·斯登格认为量子意识是“应该与神，独角兽和龙相提并论”的“没有科学依据”的“谬见”。

戴维·查尔莫斯反对量子意识。他反而讨论了量子力学与二元意识的关系。查尔莫斯对任何新物理学解决知觉难题的能力持怀疑态度。从实验证据来看，生物的脑环境过度温暖潮湿导致不受外界的量子退相干影响的维持时间太短，从而怀疑罗杰·彭罗斯和斯图尔特·哈默罗夫等人的协调客观还原等量子意识理论不太可能成立。

The quantum mind or quantum consciousness is a group of hypotheses proposing that local physical laws and interactions from classical mechanics or connections between neurons alone cannot explain consciousness. These hypotheses posit instead that quantum-mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement and superposition that cause nonlocalized quantum effects, interacting in smaller features of the brain than cells, may play an important part in the brain's function and could explain critical aspects of consciousness. These scientific hypotheses are as yet unvalidated, and they can overlap with quantum mysticism.

History

Eugene Wigner developed the idea that quantum mechanics has something to do with the workings of the mind. He proposed that consciousness causes collapse, regarding the idea that the wave function collapses due to its interaction with consciousness. Freeman Dyson argued that "mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent inherent in every electron".

Other contemporary physicists and philosophers considered these arguments unconvincing. Victor Stenger characterized quantum consciousness as a "myth" having "no scientific basis" that "should take its place along with gods, unicorns and dragons".

David Chalmers argues against quantum consciousness. He instead discusses how quantum mechanics may relate to dualistic consciousness. Chalmers is skeptical that any new physics can resolve the hard problem of consciousness. He argues that quantum theories of consciousness suffer from the same weakness as more conventional theories. Just as he argues that there is no particular reason why specific macroscopic physical features in the brain should give rise to consciousness, he also thinks that there is no specific reason why a particular quantum feature, such as the EM field in the brain, should give rise to consciousness either.

Approaches

Bohm and Hiley

David Bohm viewed quantum theory and relativity as contradictory, which implied a more fundamental level in the universe. He claimed that both quantum theory and relativity pointed to this deeper theory, a quantum field theory. This more fundamental level was proposed to represent an undivided wholeness and an implicate order, from which arises the explicate order of the universe as we experience it.

Bohm's proposed order applies both to matter and consciousness. He suggested that it could explain the relationship between them. He saw mind and matter as projections into our explicate order from the underlying implicate order. Bohm claimed that when we look at matter, we see nothing that helps us to understand consciousness.

Bohm never proposed a specific means by which his proposal could be falsified, nor a neural mechanism through which his "implicate order" could emerge in a way relevant to consciousness. He later collaborated on Karl Pribram's holonomic brain theory as a model of quantum consciousness.

David Bohm also collaborated with Basil Hiley on work that claimed mind and matter both emerge from an "implicate order". Hiley in turn worked with philosopher Paavo Pylkkänen.

Criticism

These hypotheses of the quantum mind remain hypothetical speculation, as Penrose admits in his discussions. Until they make a prediction that is tested by experimentation, the hypotheses are not based on empirical evidence. In 2010, Lawrence Krauss was guarded in criticising Penrose's ideas. He said: "Roger Penrose has given lots of new-age crackpots ammunition... Many people are dubious that Penrose's suggestions are reasonable, because the brain is not an isolated quantum-mechanical system. To some extent it could be, because memories are stored at the molecular level, and at a molecular level quantum mechanics is significant." According to Krauss, "It is true that quantum mechanics is extremely strange, and on extremely small scales for short times, all sorts of weird things happen. And in fact, we can make weird quantum phenomena happen. But what quantum mechanics doesn't change about the universe is, if you want to change things, you still have to do something. You can't change the world by thinking about it."

The process of testing the hypotheses with experiments is fraught with conceptual/theoretical, practical, and ethical problems.

Conceptual problems

The idea that a quantum effect is necessary for consciousness to function is still in the realm of philosophy.