Does Consciousness Cause Quantum Collapse

J. Acácio de Barros, Gary Oas

Fang

Consciousness and Quantum Collapse: A Testable Physical Back-Reaction

Raoni Wohnrath Arroyo, Lauro de Matos Nunes Filho

Metaphysical underdetermination arises when we are not able to decide, by purely theoretical criteria, between competing interpretations of scientific theories with different metaphysical commitments. This is the case in which non-relativistic quantum mechanics (QM) founds itself in. Among several available interpretations, there is the interpretation which states that the interaction with the conscious mind of a human observer causes a change in the dynamics of quantum objects undergoing from indefinite to definite states. This is, in a nutshell, the received view of the consciousness causes the collapse hypothesis (CCCH), which is the basis for a set of interpretations known as subjectivistic interpretations of QM. Here we propose a further distinction between three levels of metaphysical underdetermination within the discussion related to the interpretations of QM: the first level, described above, concerns the general framework of interpretations of QM (where CCCH is a option among several others, and which is not addressed here); the second one emerges within a particular set of interpretations (namely, CCCH), and the third one from two possible approaches to a particular branch of this set of interpretations. We suggest breaking the last two using metaphysical arguments. As a general result, we have been able to rule out the dualist approach of CCCH (though we cannot rule it out empirically) and to realize that the only viable phenomenological approach to CCCH is the eidetic one.

Richard James Lucido

This study builds upon previous experiments testing the Consciousness Causes Collapse (CCC) hypothesis. Previous studies by the author investigated the CCC using subliminal priming. This current experiment simplifies the paradigm by removing primes entirely and focusing directly on the temporal duration of wavefunction collapse. We hypothesize that consciousness is discrete and operates in temporal chunks. Therefore, if consciousness causes the wavefunction of a quantum event to collapse, this interaction cannot be instantaneous; it must require a measurable duration of time. To test this, participants will complete a reaction time (RT) task categorizing numbers (derived from quantum events via a Geiger counter) as odd or even. Half of the stimuli will be previously observed by the experimenter (already collapsed), and half will remain unobserved (superposition state). We expect that unobserved stimuli will yield slower reaction times because the participant's consciousness must force the collapse during the task, adding a delay.

David L. Wilson

Paavo Pylkkänen