We argue that the conceptuality interpretation of quantum theory supports a radical form of pancognitivism, which we call quantum pancognitivism, according to which matter is not cognitively inert. After distinguishing pancognitivism from panpsychism and situating it in relation to contemporary approaches to generalized cognition, we propose that quantum entities can be understood as conceptual entities whose behavior involves contextuality, the actualization of potential properties, and the creation of emergent meaning. Drawing on quantum cognition and the Brussels operational-realistic approach, we suggest that quantum theory may describe not only microscopic physical processes, but also more general dynamics governed by meaning. We further develop this view by considering the bosonic-fermionic dual-track modality of conceptual entities: at a more concrete fermionic level, cognition manifests through exclusive placeholder-states that allow communication and state-based individuality, whereas at a more abstract bosonic level it operates through shared semantic states, potentiality, and global meaning structures. On this view, cognition is not restricted to brains, organisms, or artificial systems, but expresses a structural dimension of reality. Quantum pancognitivism does not claim that matter is conscious or thinks like a human being; rather, it proposes that cognition is already operative at the level of so-called inert matter.
We argue that the conceptuality interpretation of quantum theory supports a radical form of pancognitivism, which we call quantum pancognitivism, according to which matter is not cognitively inert. After distinguishing pancognitivism from panpsychism and situating it in relation to contemporary approaches to generalized cognition, we propose that quantum entities can be understood as conceptual entities whose behavior involves contextuality, the actualization of potential properties, and the creation of emergent meaning. Drawing on quantum cognition and the Brussels operational-realistic approach, we suggest that quantum theory may describe not only microscopic physical processes, but also more general dynamics governed by meaning. We further develop this view by considering the bosonic-fermionic dual-track modality of conceptual entities: at a more concrete fermionic level, cognition manifests through exclusive placeholder-states that allow communication and state-based individuality, whereas at a more abstract bosonic level it operates through shared semantic states, potentiality, and global meaning structures. On this view, cognition is not restricted to brains, organisms, or artificial systems, but expresses a structural dimension of reality. Quantum pancognitivism does not claim that matter is conscious or thinks like a human being; rather, it proposes that cognition is already operative at the level of so-called inert matter.
The conceptuality interpretation of quantum mechanics proposes that quantum entities have a conceptual nature, interacting with the material world through processes that are the physical counterpart of the meaning-based processes, which typically occur in human cognition. This interpretation emerged from the early developments in quantum cognition , a field that uses quantum mathematics to model human cognitive activity. It benefited from the specific approach taken by the Brussels research group , modelling concepts themselves as quantum entities and minds as measuring apparatus. The article sketches the essential steps of the intellectual journey, going from the first applications of quantum notions and formalisms to human cognition to the proposal of a potentially groundbreaking interpretation of quantum mechanics, offering profound explanations for major quantum phenomena. This was done by drawing numerous parallels with the human conceptual domain and suggesting the existence of a level of cognitive activity that would underlie our physical reality. This means that an increased cross-fertilization between the conceptuality interpretation and quantum cognition is to be expected in the future, both of which are synergistic in furthering our understanding of the nature of reality. This is the first part of a two-part article. In the second part, which can be read independently of the first, the successes of the interpretation will be described in a more systematic way, providing a brief overview of what has been achieved so far. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Quantum theory and topology in models of decision making (Part 1)’.
Since its inception, many physicists have seen in quantum mechanics the possibility, if not the necessity, of bringing cognitive aspects into the play, which were instead absent, or unnoticed, in the previous classical theories. In this article, we outline the path that led us to support the hypothesis that our physical reality is fundamentally conceptual-like and cognitivistic-like. However, contrary to the 'abstract ego hypothesis' introduced by John von Neumann and further explored, in more recent times, by Henry Stapp, our approach does not rely on the measurement problem as expressing a possible 'gap in physical causation', which would point to a reality lying beyond the mind-matter distinction. On the contrary, in our approach the measurement problem is considered to be essentially solved, at least for what concerns the origin of quantum probabilities, which we have reasons to believe they would be epistemic. Our conclusion that conceptuality and cognition would be an integral part of all physical processes comes instead from the observation of the striking similarities between the non-spatial behavior of the quantum micro-physical entities and that of the human concepts. This gave birth to a new interpretation of quantum mechanics, called the 'conceptualistic interpretation', currently under investigation within our group in Brussels.
We put forward a possible new interpretation and explanatory framework for quantum theory. The basic hypothesis underlying this new framework is that quantum particles are conceptual entities. More concretely, we propose that quantum particles interact with ordinary matter, nuclei, atoms, molecules, macroscopic material entities, measuring apparatuses,..., in a similar way to how human concepts interact with memory structures, human minds or artificial memories. We analyze the most characteristic aspects of quantum theory, i.e. entanglement and non-locality, interference and superposition, identity and individuality in the light of this new interpretation, and we put forward a specific explanation and understanding of these aspects. The basic hypothesis of our framework gives rise in a natural way to a Heisenberg uncertainty principle which introduces an understanding of the general situation of ‘the one and the many ’ in quantum physics. A specific view on macro and micro different from the common one follows from the basic hypothesis and leads to an analysis of Schrödinger’s Cat paradox and the measurement problem different from the existing ones. We reflect about the influence of this new quantum interpretation and explanatory framework on the global nature and evolutionary aspects of the world and human worldviews, and point out potential explanations for specific situations, such as the generation problem in particle physics, the confinement of quarks and the existence of dark matter. 1
The conceptuality interpretation, proposed by Diederik Aerts in 2009, is presented here as a possible theoretical perspective for achieving a unified understanding of many fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics and relativity. After discussing the notion of reality and the role of choice and possibility in the construction of the real, we note how the interpretation emerges from the successes of quantum cognition, and show how it allows us to reinterpret phenomena and experiments such as the double-slit experiment, quantum erasure, entanglement, Bose–Einstein condensation, and the measurement problem by assigning a central role to dynamics governed by meaning, within a pancognitivist perspective. It is further suggested that the metric of relativistic spacetime can also be coherently understood using the same interpretive key. Quantum mechanics and relativity would thus find, in the conceptuality interpretation, an ontological and foundational framework capable of making them not only more intelligible but, in some respects, even intuitive. The price to be paid for this explanatory advantage, however, is that we must relinquish the idea that we live in a world populated primarily by spatiotemporal entities, and instead conceive of reality as a fundamentally cognitive-conceptual structure, in which every interaction ultimately takes the form of a communication.
This chapter outlines some of the highlights of efforts undertaken by our group to describe the role of contextuality in the conceptualization of conscious experience using generalized formalisms from quantum mechanics. Conscious experience is filtered not just through innate categories to give rise to stimulusresponse reflexes, but also learned categories, including concepts such as ‘container’, ‘democracy’, ‘truth’ and ‘falsehood’. The meanings of these concepts are not rigid or static but shift fluidly depending on context, increasing dramatically our potential to both inform and be informed by the world. As Edelman and Tonini (2000, p. 101) put it: “Every act of perception is, to some extent, an act of creation, and every act of memory is, to some degree, an act of imagination.” Elements of conscious experience, such as perceived stimuli, retrieved memories, and concepts are considered entities of the personal cognitive sphere, referred to collectively as ‘conceptual entities’. These can be modelled by considering them as configurations of properties, which are consistently testable through personal and interpersonal cognitive processes such as perception, reflection, and social interactions. Specifically, we are concerned with the interface between the conceptual entity and its extraneous surroundings: the context. The interrelation and concatenation of concepts consciously experienced as a stream of thought is particularly affected by context, being influenced not only by the ever-fluctuating
We elaborate on a new interpretation of quantum mechanics which we introduced recently.The main hypothesis of this new interpretation is that quantum particles are entities interacting with matter conceptually, which means that pieces of matter function as interfaces for the conceptual content carried by the quantum particles.We explain how our interpretation was inspired by our earlier analysis of non-locality as non-spatiality and a specific interpretation of quantum potentiality, which we illustrate by means of the example of two interconnected vessels of water.We show by means of this example that philosophical realism is not in contradiction with the recent findings with respect to Leggett's inequalities and their violations.We explain our recent work on using the quantum formalism to model human concepts and their combinations and how this has given rise to the foundational ideas of our new quantum interpretation.We analyze the equivalence of meaning in the realm of human concepts and coherence in the realm of quantum particles, and how the duality of abstract and concrete leads naturally to a Heisenberg uncertainty relation.We illustrate the role played by interference and entanglement and show how the new interpretation explains the problems related to identity and individuality in quantum mechanics.We put forward a possible scenario for the emergence of the reality of macroscopic objects.