This paper proposes superpsychism, a new panpsychist framework that uses quantum entanglement to address the mysteries of consciousness and the emergence of space-time. Building on recent work in quantum gravity and quantum Darwinism, we develop the prototime interpretation (PI), according to which entangled systems in a pure state inhabit an aspatial, quasi-temporal 'prototime' arena, from which both space-time and time's arrow emerge as environmentinduced decoherence redundantly imprints information about preferred pointer states into surrounding degrees of freedom, yielding an effectively classical, temporally ordered world. In parallel, we integrate PI with the general resonance theory of consciousness, arguing that maximal coherence and resonance in prototime underwrite a unified form of experience. This yields 'superpsychism': the claim that the holistically entangled 'megaobject' at the prototemporal level realizes a higher form of consciousness than any spatio-temporal object (including brains), thereby diverging from cosmopsychism. We contend that this prototime-superpsychism package offers a parsimonious, weakly emergent account of how classical physics, temporal order, and macro-consciousness arise from a dispositional, nonspatio-temporal base, while also opening new avenues for interpreting emergence, dissolvence, and the informational efficiency of conscious systems in a potentially simulated or deeply structured universe.
This paper proposes superpsychism, a new panpsychist framework that uses quantum entanglement to address the mysteries of consciousness and the emergence of space-time. Building on recent work in quantum gravity and quantum Darwinism, we develop the prototime interpretation (PI), according to which entangled systems in a pure state inhabit an aspatial, quasi-temporal 'prototime' arena, from which both space-time and time's arrow emerge as environmentinduced decoherence redundantly imprints information about preferred pointer states into surrounding degrees of freedom, yielding an effectively classical, temporally ordered world. In parallel, we integrate PI with the general resonance theory of consciousness, arguing that maximal coherence and resonance in prototime underwrite a unified form of experience. This yields 'superpsychism': the claim that the holistically entangled 'megaobject' at the prototemporal level realizes a higher form of consciousness than any spatio-temporal object (including brains), thereby diverging from cosmopsychism. We contend that this prototime-superpsychism package offers a parsimonious, weakly emergent account of how classical physics, temporal order, and macro-consciousness arise from a dispositional, nonspatio-temporal base, while also opening new avenues for interpreting emergence, dissolvence, and the informational efficiency of conscious systems in a potentially simulated or deeply structured universe.
In 'Superpsychism', Susan Schneider and Mark Bailey (this issue) propose that space-time and ordinary (human-level) consciousness both emerge from a fundamental, non-spatio-temporal level of reality consisting of a network of maximally coherent, zero entropy quantum entanglement relations, termed prototime, which also instantiates a fundamental form of consciousness, termed superconsciousness. We raise some objections to this view, considered as an explanation or reduction of space-time, as an interpretation of quantum mechanics, and as a theory of consciousness, questioning the extent of its explanatory advantages in each of these areas.
We propose the Prototime Interpretation of quantum mechanics, which claims that quantum entanglement occurs in a “prototemporal” realm which underlies spacetime. We claim that the Prototime Interpretation (PI) is worthy of further consideration as a superior explanation for perplexing quantum phenomena such as delayed choice, superposition, the wave-particle duality and nonlocality. In Section 11.2 , we introduce the Prototime Interpretation. Section 11.3 identifies its advantages. Section 11.4 discusses several implications of the view, such as its deterministic nature and relation to the simulation hypothesis.
What is consciousness? Conventional approaches see it as an emergent property of complex interactions among individual neurons; however these approaches fail to address enigmatic features of consciousness. Accordingly, some philosophers have contended that "qualia," or an experiential medium from which consciousness is derived, exists as a fundamental component of reality. Whitehead, for example, described the universe as being composed of "occasions of experience." To examine this possibility scientifically, the very nature of physical reality must be re-examined. We must come to terms with the physics of spacetime--as described by Einstein's general theory of relativity, and its relation to the fundamental theory of matter--as described by quantum theory. Roger Penrose has proposed a new physics of objective reduction: "OR," which appeals to a form of quantum gravity to provide a useful description of fundamental processes at the quantum/classical borderline. Within the OR scheme, we consider that consciousness occurs if an appropriately organized system is able to develop and maintain quantum coherent superposition until a specific "objective" criterion (a threshold related to quantum gravity) is reached; the coherent system then self-reduces (objective reduction: OR). We contend that this type of objective self-collapse introduces non-computability, an essential feature of consciousness which distinguishes our minds from classical computers. Each OR is taken as an instantaneous event--the climax of a self-organizing process in fundamental spacetime--and a candidate for a conscious Whitehead "occasion of experience." How could an OR process occur in the brain, be coupled to neural activities, and account for other features of consciousness? We nominate a quantum computational OR process with the requisite characteristics to be occurring in cytoskeletal micro-tubules within the brain's neurons. In this model, quantum-superposed states develop in microtubule subunit proteins ("tubulins") within certain brain neurons, remain coherent, and recruit more superposed tubulins until a mass-time-energy threshold (related to quantum gravity) is reached. At that point, self-collapse, or objective reduction (OR), abruptly occurs. We equate the pre-reduction, coherent superposition ("quantum computing") phase with pre-conscious processes, and each instantaneous (and non-computable) OR, or self-collapse, with a discrete conscious event. Sequences of OR events give rise to a "stream" of consciousness. Microtubule-associated proteins can "tune" the quantum oscillations of the coherent superposed states; the OR is thus self-organized, or "orchestrated" ("Orch OR"). Each Orch OR event selects (non-computably) microtubule subunit states which regulate synaptic/neural functions using classical signaling. The quantum gravity threshold for self-collapse is relevant to consciousness, according to our arguments, because macroscopic superposed quantum states each have their own spacetime geometries. These geometries are also superposed, and in some way "separated," but when sufficiently separated, the superposition of spacetime geometries becomes significantly unstable and reduces to a single universe state. Quantum gravity determines the limits of the instability; we contend that the actual choice of state made by Nature is non-computable. Thus each Orch OR event is a self-selection of spacetime geometry, coupled to the brain through microtubules and other biomolecules. If conscious experience is intimately connected with the very physics underlying spacetime structure, then Orch OR in microtubules indeed provides us with a completely new and uniquely promising perspective on the difficult problems of consciousness.
The quantum vacuum is a zero-temperature, maximally entangled state whose virtual processes rigorously refuse on-shell propagation and classical localisation. The observable classical world therefore emerges through near-total erasure of ∼10⁹³ bits m⁻³ of vacuum entanglement density. Living human cortex is the only known macroscopic system that reproducibly sustains a small (∼40–150 bits per ∼50 ms perceptual moment) deviation from perfect classical pointer-state purity. Near-critical dynamics combined with an exceptionally low-loss intracerebral electromagnetic cavity below ∼100 Hz allow residual quantum correlations to persist on perceptual timescales. We hypothesise that phenomenal consciousness, the brute fact that experience feels like something, is physically identical to this faint, topologically non-trivial residual quantum entropy deficit: the largest and most persistent deviation from perfect vacuum erasure that thermodynamics permits in a warm, wet, macroscopic critical system. Unity, privacy, finite capacity, and collapse under general anaesthesia then follow from textbook open-quantum-system physics (decoherence, quantum Darwinism, logarithmic entanglement scaling at criticality) without objective collapse, microtubule quantum computation, or any new fundamental fields or forces. A stronger-form extension, triggered by emerging 2024–2025 evidence that conscious perception is carried by an ultra-stable ∼36-bit “refusal manifold” of synaptic transmission failures, identifies the conscious present with exactly one topologically protected anyonic loop excitation of an emergent 2+1D BF theory on the synchronised cortical sheet: a macroscopic “vacuum scar” that the universe fails to erase for one gamma cycle at a time. The hard problem is thereby bounded (not solved) to explaining why the physically permitted residual quantum memory is so extraordinarily small and why it is shaped precisely as human phenomenology reports. Four quantitative, parameter-free, falsifiable predictions are derived for neuroscience, artificial systems, gravitational-wave astronomy, and SETI (2026–2035). Keywordsquantum vacuum · vacuum entanglement · residual quantum entropy · cortical criticality · gamma synchronisation · intracerebral cavity · phenomenal consciousness · hard problem of consciousness · quantum Darwinism · topological order · anyons · BF theory · consciousness theories
We propose a conservative theoretical framework addressing the emergence of classical time and the uniqueness of the past within quantum mechanics, without modifying its fundamental postulates or introducing objective collapse mechanisms. The central observation is that quantum superpositions of mass–energy distributions necessarily imply superpositions of gravitational potentials, and therefore superpositions of proper times. By treating time as an effective quantum degree of freedom and extending the system Hilbert space accordingly, we show that matter–time entanglement leads to an intrinsic dispersion of proper time. Gravitational fluctuations and irreversible memory formation dynamically suppress this dispersion, giving rise to an effective closure of temporal histories. The resulting dynamics admits stable fixed points corresponding to classical time and a unique past, while remaining fully compatible with global unitarity. We analyze the stability of this closure, its relation to decoherence and quantum Darwinism, and its implications for cosmology, including the interpretation of the Big Bang as a temporal closure process rather than a fundamental beginning of time. The framework clarifies the role of gravity in the quantum–classical transition and delineates the physical conditions under which a unique history can emerge.
What is consciousness? Some philosophers have contended that qualia, or an experiential medium from which consciousness is derived, exists as a fundamental component of reality. Whitehead, for example, described the universe as being comprised of occasions of To examine this possibility scientifically, the very nature of physical reality must be re-examined. We must come to terms with the physics of space-time--as is described by Einstein's general theory of relativity--and its relation to the fundamental theory of matter--as described by quantum theory. This leads us to employ a new physics of reduction: which appeals to a form of quantum gravity to provide a useful description of fundamental processes at the quantum/classical borderline (Penrose, 1994; 1996). Within the OR scheme, we consider that consciousness occurs if an appropriately organized system is able to develop and maintain quantum coherent superposition until a specific objective criterion (a threshold related to quantum gravity) is reached; the coherent system then self-reduces (objective reduction: We contend that this type of self-collapse introduces non-computability, an essential feature of consciousness. OR is taken as an instantaneous event--the climax of a self-organizing process in fundamental space-time--and a candidate for a conscious Whitehead occasion of experience. How could an OR process occur in the brain, be coupled to neural activities, and account for other features of consciousness? We nominate an OR process with the requisite characteristics to be occurring in cytoskeletal microtubules within the brain's neurons (Penrose and Hameroff, 1995; Hameroff and Penrose, 1995; 1996). In this model, quantum-superposed states develop in microtubule subunit proteins (tubulins), remain coherent and recruit more superposed tubulins until a mass-time-energy threshold (related to quantum gravity) is reached. At that point, self-collapse, or reduction (OR) abruptly occurs. We equate the pre-reduction, coherent superposition (quantum computing) phase with pre-conscious processes, and each instantaneous (and non-computable) OR, or self-collapse, with a discrete conscious event. Sequences of OR events give rise to a stream of consciousness. Microtubule-associated-proteins can tune the quantum oscillations of the coherent superposed states; the OR is thus self-organized, or orchestrated (Orch OR). Each Orch OR event selects (non-computably) microtubule subunit states which regulate synaptic/neural functions using classical signaling. The quantum gravity threshold for self-collapse is relevant to consciousness, according to our arguments, because macroscopic superposed quantum states each have their own space-time geometries (Penrose, 1994; 1996). These geometries are also superposed, and in some way but when sufficiently separated, the superposition of space-time geometries becomes significantly unstable, and reduce to a single universe state. Quantum gravity determines the limits of the instability; we contend that the actual choice of state made by Nature is non-computable. Thus each Orch OR event is a self-selection of space-time geometry, coupled to the brain through microtubules and other biomolecules. If conscious experience is intimately connected with the very physics underlying space-time structure, then Orch OR in microtubules indeed provides us with a completely new and uniquely promising perspective on the hard problem of consciousness.