Many people believe that mysterious phenomenon of consciousness may be connected with quantum features of our world. The present author has proposed the so-called Extended Everett's Concept (EEC) that allows an explanation of consciousness and super-consciousness (intuitive knowledge). Brain, according to EEC, is an interface between consciousness and super-consciousness on the one part and body on the other part. Relations between all these components of the human cognitive system are analyzed in the framework of EEC. It is concluded that technical devices improving usage of super-consciousness (intuition) may exist.
Many people believe that mysterious phenomenon of consciousness may be connected with quantum features of our world. The present author has proposed the so-called Extended Everett's Concept (EEC) that allows an explanation of consciousness and super-consciousness (intuitive knowledge). Brain, according to EEC, is an interface between consciousness and super-consciousness on the one part and body on the other part. Relations between all these components of the human cognitive system are analyzed in the framework of EEC. It is concluded that technical devices improving usage of super-consciousness (intuition) may exist.
We discuss mathematical models describing the action of consciousness and super-consciousness as these phenomena are defined in the Extended Everett's Concept (EEC) proposed by the author. According to the Everett's interpretation of quantum mechanics, the state of the quantum world is a superposition of various classical pictures of the world (classical realities, or alternatives). Humans, due to their ability called consciousness, perceive the alternatives separately: all alternatives are perceived, but subjectively perceiving one of them is accompanied by the sensation of the remaining alternatives as if being invisible. This causes the impression that only one of the alternatives really exists, but this is an illusion of consciousness. When consciousness (separating the alternatives) is turned off (in sleep, trance or meditation) or weakened, another ability arises called super-consciousness. Due to super-consciousness, the human gets access to the set of all alternative realities taken as a whole, selects those alternatives that are favorable, and ensures that just these selected alternatives are experienced after consciousness is turned on again. Thus, EEC explains, on the basis of quantum mechanics, those features of consciousness which are usually treated as mystical. It is shown in the paper how these features of consciousness and super-consciousness can be presented by simple mathematical models.
Conceptual problems in quantum mechanics result from the specific quantum concept of reality and require, for their solution, including the observer’s consciousness into the quantum theory of measurements. Most naturally, this is achieved in the framework of Everett’s “many-world interpretation” of quantum mechanics. According to this interpretation, various classical alternatives are perceived by consciousness separately from each other. In the Extended Everett Concept (EEC) proposed by the present author, the separation of the alternatives is identified with the phenomenon of consciousness. This explains the classical character of the alternatives and unusual manifestations of consciousness arising “at the edge of consciousness” (i.e., in sleep or trance) when its access to “other alternative classical realities” (other Everett’s worlds) becomes feasible. Because of reversibility of quantum evolution in EEC, all time moments in the quantum world are equivalent, while the impression of flow of time appears only in consciousness. If it is assumed that consciousness may influence the probabilities of alternatives (which is consistent in case of infinitely many Everett’s worlds), EEC explains free will, “probabilistic miracles” (observing low-probability events), and decreasing entropy in the sphere of life.
Mystical powers of consciousness, including the direct vision of truth and management a reality, are believed to exist. Various directions of spiritual knowledge, including world religions, deal with these phenomena. Many people are persuaded that mystical events cannot be explained by scientific methods, that they contradict to science. Suggested by the present author Quantum Concept of Consciousness, or Extended Everett Concept, proves that mystical powers have their origin from what is known in quantum mechanics as quantum reality, and therefore are inherent part of science. Therefore, the “mystical” aspect in the sphere of consciousness is a common part of science and spiritual knowledge.
Subjective aspects of quantum mechanics (QM) are most radically expressed in the (EI) of QM which suggests coexisting macroscopically distinct configurations of the world in the form of a superposition of the (quasi-)classical state vectors. The components of such a superposition are often verbally denoted as Everett's worlds, hence the name Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) for EI. Explicit accounting the correlation of each classical configuration of the world with the corresponding state of an observer's mind yields the so-called Many-Minds interpretation (MMI). This is maximum that may be done in the context of EI if the restriction by pure physics is implied. In the author's Extended Everett Concept (EEC) the observer's consciousness is defined in the spirit of psycho-physical parallelism, i.e. as going beyond pure physics. As a consequence, according to EEC, an observer, if he/she weakens or turns off his/her consciousness (perception), obtains the ability of super-intuition (obtaining seemingly unavailable information) and even of controlling the subjective reality (a picture of classical reality as it will be subjectively perceived). This may be interpreted as a realization of the Jung's collective unconscious as well as an explanation of the mystical elements in Oriental philosophies, world religions and deep psychological practices.
NeuroQuantology | March 2013 | Vol 11 | Issue 1 | Suppl 1 | Page 85-96
The role of quantum information is discussed in the framework of Quantum Concept of Consciousness (QCC), based on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics (Everett interpretation). Within QCC the phenomenon of super-intuition is analyzed, which explains in particular the great scientific insights and realizes a sort of a "mental time machine". The recently expressed opinion that emergence of super-intuition requires transferring quantum information, which is banned by the impossibility of "quantum cloning", is critically considered. It is shown that in fact under QCC the emergence of the phenomenon of super-intuition requires not transferring quantum information, but only correlating various fragments of it. Actual examples of scientific insights that have been documented by prominent scientists, suggest that the marker of the correlation in this case is a strong positive emotion, which can be called cognitive euphoria.
Conceptual problems of the quantum theory of measurement are considered, which are embodied in well-known paradoxes and in Bell's inequalities. Arguments are advanced in favor of the viewpoint that these problems may hardly be solved without direct inclusion of the observer's consciousness in the theoretical description of a quantum measurement. Discussed in this connection is the so-called many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics proposed by Everett, as is the extension of Everett's concept, which consists in the assumption that separating the quantum state components corresponding to alternative measurements is not only associated with the observer's consciousness but is completely identified with it. This approach is shown to open up qualitatively new avenues for the unification of physics and psychology and, more broadly, of the sciences and the humanities. This may lead to an extension of the theory of consciousness and shed light on significant and previously misunderstood phenomena in the sphere of consciousness.