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.
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.
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 this article, Schneider and Bailey's prototime interpretation of quantum mechanics is explored in relation to David Bohm's deterministic non-local hidden variables theory, and his later conceptualization of an implicate order, which is a theory of complementarity rather than determinism. Schneider and Bailey argue that quantum entanglement occurs not in space-time but in a fundamental aspatial domain known as prototime, which bridges ordinary time and timeless reality. It is causal but unorthodox in the sense that causality does not occur in space-time. This notion has some connections to Bohm's quantum mechanics (hidden variable) but not with his theory of implicate-explicate orders per se, where the material and mental phenomena are projections of a third, unified source. The article discusses the implications of dual-aspect monism and elaborations of the concept of entanglement which both interpretations (the implicate order and prototime) argue could reconcile inconsistencies between quantum mechanics and relativity theory. While consciousness in both cases emerges from an holistically entangled structure beyond space and time, the latter does not recognize a neutral third as such — a key feature of dual-aspect monism — but there is a super-entangled object (a 'megaobject').
In this article, a timeless and spaceless theory of consciousness in terms of quantum entanglement is proposed. It is shown that time and consciousness can be spontaneously emerged and, thus, be defined by separating a subsystem from a much bigger quantum system. The mass and relative distances are recognized as functions of the entanglement entropies between separated systems and the classical background space can be restored in terms of these relative distances. We carefully examine the world with two coexisting consciousnesses. By equivalence principle of consciousness, the criterion of whether an entity is conscious or not is formulated implying that nowadays robots cannot be conscious. In addition, the relativity of intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of consciousness is discussed which might reveal the intricate connections between material and spiritual worlds at the deepest level. This relativity together with the new interpretation of mass further implies that consciousness has a negative mass, but this counterintuitive prediction needs to be verified by future experiments.
NeuroQuantology | September 2013 | Volume 11 | Issue 3 | Page 431-442
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.
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.