English

Are mental states nonlocal?

History and Philosophy of Physics 2021-02-02 v3 Quantum Physics

Abstract

I show that if mental states are function of physical states, then they are nonlocal, in a sense that will be explained. I argue that, if mental states are reducible to brain physics, and if they are integrated experiences, this nonlocality implies that Classical Physics is not enough, in particular the computationalist thesis does not hold. I illustrate the argument with a thought experiment. The proof of nonlocality is straightforward and general, but the result is counterintuitive, so I spend a large part of the article discussing possible objections, alternatives, and implications. I discuss the possibility that Quantum Physics allows this kind of nonlocality.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2010.03389,
  title  = {Are mental states nonlocal?},
  author = {Ovidiu Cristinel Stoica},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2010.03389},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

23 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-23T19:07:46.053Z