In the present paper, we aim to develop a formal quantum logic theory of the interplay between conscious and unconscious processes of the human mind, a goal that has already been envisaged in quantum cognition; in doing so, we will show how the interplay between formal language and metalanguage allows for characterizing pure quantum states as infinite singletons: in the case of the spin observable, we obtain an equation defining a modality that is then re-interpreted as an abstract projection operator. By including a temporal parameter in the equations and by defining a modal negative operator, we derive an intuitionistic-like negation, for which the non-contradiction law is seen as an equivalent of the quantum uncertainty. Building on the psychoanalytic theory of Bi-Logic by Matte Blanco, we use modalities in interpreting the emergence of conscious representations from an unconscious one, and we demonstrate that this description fits well with Freud's view of the role of negation in mental processes. Psychoanalysis, where affect plays a prominent role in shaping not only conscious, but also unconscious representations, is therefore seen as a suitable model to expand the domain of quantum cognition to the broader field of
In the present paper, we aim to develop a formal quantum logic theory of the interplay between conscious and unconscious processes of the human mind, a goal that has already been envisaged in quantum cognition; in doing so, we will show how the interplay between formal language and metalanguage allows for characterizing pure quantum states as infinite singletons: in the case of the spin observable, we obtain an equation defining a modality that is then re-interpreted as an abstract projection operator. By including a temporal parameter in the equations and by defining a modal negative operator, we derive an intuitionistic-like negation, for which the non-contradiction law is seen as an equivalent of the quantum uncertainty. Building on the psychoanalytic theory of Bi-Logic by Matte Blanco, we use modalities in interpreting the emergence of conscious representations from an unconscious one, and we demonstrate that this description fits well with Freud's view of the role of negation in mental processes. Psychoanalysis, where affect plays a prominent role in shaping not only conscious, but also unconscious representations, is therefore seen as a suitable model to expand the domain of quantum cognition to the broader field of
In the present paper, we develop a theory of thinking based on an attempt to formalize the construction of mental representations as described in psychoanalytic theory. In previous work, we described Freud's and Matte Blanco's structural Unconscious in a formal model in which the properties of unconscious representations are captured by particular sets-infinite singletons-that can be derived in first-order logic language. Here, we afford the issue of the finitization of unconscious representations by assuming that the mind can form an all-purpose modality, originating from abstraction from infinite singletons; in this way, a symmetric prelogical setting for mental representations is formally created, and this is interpreted in a quantum spin model by a modal (necessity) projector. Then, by introducing time, one can describe the links that mental representations can establish with reality, and hence finitize the representations. The modality is so split into finite components, here termed positive, negative and irreal; the splitting of the modality is traced back to the decomposition of the spin observables by means of the Pauli matrices, which can offer a quantum semantics to the method applied. Here, we suggest that the development of the modal approach and its quantum logic implementation can be considered as a proper formalization of some aspect of the psychoanalytic theory of thinking proposed by Bion; namely, we will show that the process of abstraction leading from raw data to preconceptions, and therefore to the definition of the content-container relationship, is adequately captured by our model, and further correspondences can be detected with Bion's theory about links and transformations, implying different ways in which the mind can get in touch with both internal and external reality.
A crucial issue both in cognitive and psychoanalytical theories deals with the origin of mental representations. In order to explore this issue, the paper analyzes a pre-logical setting, by considering a formalized approach to the foundations of psychoanalysis in logic, interpreting and integrating the views by Freud, Matte Blanco, Klein and Bion. The formalized approach derives from a quantum model of spin states. A representation of the spin state of a particle in first order logic is abstracted to get a modality interpretable as an abstract projector. The last can be decomposed into a positive, negative and irreal component. The irreal component cannot emerge and, in logic, is absorbed by the two others, giving rise to logical duality. Due to its treatment of undefiniteness and coherence, the paper is meant to contribute to quantum cognition, in its particular sense of affective quantum cognition.
In this paper, we are dealing with the fundamental concepts of Bi-logic proposed by Chilean psychoanalyst Ignacio Matte Blanco in the context of quantum logic, founded by Gareth Birkhoff and John Von Neumann. The main purpose of this paper is to present how a quantum-logical model, represented by the lattice of a closed subspace of Hilbert space, can be used as a computational framework for concepts that are originally described by Sigmund Freud as the fundamental properties of the unconscious psyche.
We introduce a quantum logic for quantum information, which we identify with the quantum logic of the psychodynamic unconscious, amenable to formal characterization through the theoretical framework of Quantum Mind. We claim that this sub rosa quantum logic of the normal mind’s unconscious domain is also the dominant, pathologically emerging logic of schizophrenia. We interpret Quantum Metalanguage as speaking as a quantum control about such a quantum logic. We then suggest that psychotherapists might learn this formal Quantum Metalanguage and apply it in practice in order to communicate more easily with schizophrenic patients.
NeuroQuantology | September 2012 | Volume 10 | Issue 3 | Page 566-579
In this paper, taking the theory of quantum information as a model, we consider the human unconscious, pre-consciousness and consciousness as sets of quantum bits (qubits). We view how there can be communication between these various qubit sets. In doing this we are inspired by the theory of nuclear magnetic resonance. In this way we build a model of handling a mental qubit with the help of pulses of a mental field. Starting with an elementary interaction between two qubits we build two-qubit quantum logic gates that allow information to be transferred from one qubit to the other. In this manner we build a quantum process that permits consciousness to “read” the unconscious and vice versa. The elementary interaction, e.g. between a pre-consciousness qubit and a consciousness one, allows us to predict the time evolution of the pre-consciousness + consciousness system in which pre-consciousness and consciousness are quantum entangled. This time evolution exhibits Rabi oscillations that we name mental Rabi oscillations . This time evolution shows how for example the unconscious can influence consciousness. In a process like mourning the influence of the unconscious on consciousness, as the influence of consciousness on the unconscious, are in agreement with what is observed in psychiatry.
A number of modern scientists adheres to the point of view that, despite the fact that quantum mechanics does not allow to explain the existence of mental phenomena in the physical world, with the help of its inherent ontological principles and mathematical formalism, it is possible to understand the functioning of consciousness and the unconscious. Based on the analogy between quantum and mental processes, the unconscious can be represented as a superposition of mental states, and consciousness — in the form of decoherence of unconscious experiences. From an evolutionary point of view, consciousness can be considered as a consequence of the accumulation of a sufficient amount of information during the interaction of the organism with the surrounding environment, when the transition from the quantum state of the unconscious to the classical state of consciousness is carried out at the psychic level of being, by analogy with the accumulation of a sufficient amount of information by a quantum system during interaction with the environment, when at the physical level of being the collapse of the wave function. In psychotherapy and psychodiagnostics, one can see an analogy with the measurement process in quantum mechanics and a quantum leap from one mental state to another. However, the analysis of this point of view carried out in the article shows that the parallels between quantum mechanics and psychology today look insufficiently substantiated, since the mathematical model of the psyche, which allows describing human behavior on the basis of the laws of quantum mechanics, has not yet been built, which is why, firstly, the use of quantum-physical terminology in the understanding of mental experience does not rise to the level of scientific theory, remaining a metaphor, and, secondly, quantum psychology has a predictive potential, in contrast to the psychology of the classical type.