Related papers: The Parallel Principle
This is the final paper in a series that considers the rules of engagement between conscious states and physiological states. In this paper, we imagine that an endogenous quantum mechanical superposition is created by a classical stimulus,…
This paper elaborates on four previously proposed rules of engagement between conscious states and physiological states. A new rule is proposed that applies to a continuous model of conscious brain states that cannot precisely resolve…
It is argued that Feynman's rules for evaluating probabilities, combined with von Neumann's principle of psycho-physical parallelism, help avoid inconsistencies, often associated with quantum theory. The former allows one to assign…
Preciously given rules allow conscious systems to be included in quantum mechanical systems. There rules are derived from the empirical experience of an observer who witnesses a quantum mechanical interaction leading to the capture of a…
In a previous paper, the author proposed a quantum mechanical interaction that would insure that the evolution of subjective states would parallel the evolution of biological states, as required by von Neumann's theory of measurement. The…
We examine the role of a conscious observer in a typical quantum mechanical measurement. Four rules are given that govern stochastic choice and state reduction in several cases of continuous and intermittent observation. It is found that…
The von Neumann attitude on such a deep interpretational question as the role of a human observer in order for the quantum description of measurement to be consistent has been long misrepresented. The large majority of the subsequent…
It has been suggested, on the one hand, that quantum states are just states of knowledge; and, on the other, that quantum theory is merely a theory of correlations. These suggestions are confronted with problems about the nature of…
The author has proposed five rules that permit conscious observers to be included in quantum mechanics. In the present paper, these rules are applied to the observation of a non-local pair of correlated particles. Rule (4) again prevents an…
Quantum mechanics in the Wigner-von Neumann interpretation is presented. This is characterized by 1) a quantum dualism between matter and consciousness unified within an informational neutral monism, 2) a quantum perspectivism which is…
Any complete theory of physical reality must allow for the ubiquitous phenomenon of subjective experience at some level, or risk being conceptually incoherent. However, as long as the ontological status of subjectivity itself remains…
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…
We show that the modern quantum mechanics, and particularly the theory of decoherence, allows for formulating a sort of a physical metatheory of consciousness. Particularly, the analysis of the necessary conditions for the occurrence of…
We show that the modern quantum mechanics, and particularly the theory of decoherence, allows formulating a sort of a physical metatheory of consciousness. Particularly, the analysis of the necessary conditions for the occurrence of…
I start from the fundamental principles of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, without probability, and interpret them using the notion of coexistence: a quantum state can be read, not uniquely, as a coexistence of other quantum states,…
It is normally claimed that physical systems create and influence consciousness, but that consciousness cannot influence physical systems. However, I believe that this idea is flawed, and I suggest the following experiments as a way of…
The ideas of Sensible Quantum Mechanics are expressed in lay terms for philosophers of consciousness and others. A framework is proposed and explained for the `psycho-physical-parallelism' between conscious experiences and the mathematical…
Few things in physics have caused so much hand-wringing as von Neumann's collapse hypothesis. Unable to derive it mathematically, von Neumann attributed it to interaction with the observer's brain! Few physicists agreed, but tweaks of von…
We enlist various motivations underlying the idea that von Neumann collapses occure permanently, spontaneously and even universally. In addition to the conceptual value of permanent reduction theory, we mention its important by-product…
After centuries of research, how subjective experience relates to physical phenomena remains unclear. Recent strategies attempt to identify the physical correlates of experience. Less studied is how scientists eliminate the "spurious"…