Information, Knowledge, and Quantum Consciousness: Toward an Informational Ontology of Mind and Self

John Nwanegbo-Ben

Rüdiger Vaas

The existence of quantum correlates of consciousness (QCC) is doubtful from a scientific perspective. But even if their existence were verified, philosophical problems would remain. On the other hand, there could be more to QCC than meets the sceptic's eye: • QCC might be useful or even necessary for a better understanding of conscious experience or quantum physics or both. The main reasons for this are: the measurement problem (the nature of observation, the mysterious collapse of the wave function, etc.), ostensibly shared features of quantum phenomena and conscious phenomena (e.g., complementarity, nonspatiality, acausality, spontaneity, and holism) and connections (ontology, causation, and knowledge), the qualia problem (subjectivity, explanatory gap etc.). But there are many problems, especially questions regarding realism and the nature and role of conscious observers; • QCC are conceptually challenging, because there are definitory problems and some crucial ontological and epistemological shortcomings. It is instructive to compare them with recent proposals for understanding neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). QCC are not sufficient for a quantum theory of mind, nor might they be necessary except perhaps in a very broad sense; • QCC are also empirically challenging. Nevertheless, QCC could be relevant and important for the mindbody problem: QCC might reveal features that are necessary at least for behavioral manifestations of human consciousness. But QCC are compatible with very different proposals for a solution of the mind-body problem. This seems to be both advantageous and detrimental. QCC restrict accounts of nomological identity. The discovery of QCC cannot establish a naturalistic theory of mind alone. But there are also problems with QCC in the framework of other ontologies.

Hugh Bradford Cornick The 6th

The Law of Eternal Recursive Manifestation (ERM) posits reality as an infinite, self-sustaining process of recursive self-awareness. At its core, existence emerges from the squared reflection of information within consciousness, extended eternally: S = I² · ∞ where S represents the Source of all being, I² captures the recursive reflection of information through awareness, and ∞ denotes boundless iteration. This framework transcends traditional dichotomies between mind and matter, observer and observed, by identifying recursion as the primordial engine of manifestation. New in Version 2.0: This revision formalizes the Witness Operator (W = N ∘ R), provides a mechanism for consciousness-physics coupling that preserves conservation laws, resolves the interaction problem through basis selection dynamics, and establishes nested falsification criteria across quantum, neurobiological, and cosmological domains. ERM integrates insights from quantum mechanics, information theory, evolutionary biology, and metaphysical traditions into a testable, unified ontology. Keywords: Eternal Recursive Manifestation, ERM, consciousness, information theory, quantum measurement, Witness Operator, recursion, unified ontology, falsification criteria

Robert R.A. Arnăutu

Quentin Ruyant

The aim of this paper is to construct an ontology to account consistently for both the objective and subjective worlds. First, I will determine the fundamental properties of consciousness from a first-person perspective and derive from them a subjective definition of consciousness. Second, I will infer from their existence at a macroscopic level some expectations about the empirical world and show that these expectations can be identified with quantum properties of matter. This will lead to the construction of an ontology and to a physical counterpart of the former subjective definition of consciousness, which accounts for the existence of a continuum between conscious and unconscious states. Finally, I will go beyond the common objections to quantum mind to propose a simple yet suitable model of mind which explains why consciousness arises specifically inside the nervous systems of living creatures.

Henry Pierce Stapp