Previous post by Hameroff

 how do synchronized neural firings and synaptic transmissions produce experiential qualia, emotions or free will? Physicalists believe this to be relatively straightforward (brain = mind = computer) however others find the question intractable, or as vexing as trying to coax a reluctant genie from a magic lamp. I see three problems with the brain = mind = computer analogy:

1. Is consciousness classical computation? In a controversial stance Roger Penrose ^1-3 has asserted that essential aspects of consciousness are non-computable. But regardless, classical computers appear to be evolving toward quantum computers. Beginning in the early 1980's Benioff, Feynman and others proposed that states in a system - bits in a computer - could interact while in quantum superposition of all possible states, effecting near-infinite parallel computation. Rather than classical Boolean bit states 1 or 0, quantum computers would utilize interactive "qubits" of 1 and 0. If quantum computers can ever be constructed they will have huge advantages in important applications. As the brain/mind has always been cast as current information technology, consciousness may inevitably be seen as some form of quantum computation.

2. Are neural firings the "fine grain" of consciousness? Cells and synapses are far more complex than simple on­off switches. Consider the paramecium, a single cell organism which gracefully swims, avoids predators, learns to escape from capillary tubes, and finds food and mates. Observing intelligent behavior in unicellular creatures C.S. Sherrington said in 1951: "Of nerve there is no trace. But the cell framework, the cyto-skeleton, might serve." Lacking synapses, paramecium utilizes its cytoskeleton for communication and organization. Neurons have a rich and dynamic set of cytoskeletal microtubules which regulates synapses, and tremendously increases potential computational capacity (e.g. 10¹⁶ bit states/second/neuron)⁴. More importantly, neurons are alive and we don't yet know what that implies for consciousness.

3. Details which don't fit the brain = mind = computer scheme are overlooked.

For example:

1. Neurotransmitter vesicle release and cognitive reaction times are "noisy", and exhibit apparent probabilistic randomness (?non­computable quantum indeterminacy⁵).
2. Axonal firing patterns (rather than average frequency) and dendritic­dendritic processing may be relevant to consciousness⁶.
3. Apart from chemical synapses, primitive electrotonic gap junctions couple neurons and glia synchronously and may play an important role in consciousness.
4. Glial cells (80% of the brain) are ignored in the brain­as­computer view.

Quibbling aside, the physicalist view fails to address difficult issues. For example the problem of 'binding' in vision and self is often attributed to temporal correlation (e.g. coherent 40 Hz), but it is unclear why temporal correlation per se should bind experience without an explanation of experience. Regarding transition from pre­conscious or implicit processing to consciousness itself, the physicalist view sees emergence at a critical level of neural-level computational complexity. But no conscious threshold is apparent, nor is there a reasonable suggestion why such an emergent property should have conscious experience. As physicalism is based on deterministic computation, it is also unable to account for free will or Penrose's proposed non­computability. But the major problem remains experience, for which physicalism offers no testable predictions. Something is missing.

 

RHYTHMIC STILLNESS

 

Specks of Crystal Light

Modulated by Solar Sprays

Reflect bright Earth sounds

Toward my Sight

 

History records in an instant

On carbon folds

The pulses of Earth rhythms

Upon my spinal shaft

 

The Harmonies of Light

and Sound

Blend with Magnetized

Crimson Flow

 

Rhythmic nasal motion

Swings the Pendulum

Of Spinal fluids

And Cranial Electrics

 

Neuronal jumps of Ecstasy

Rush with each ionic Breath

Sending flame-like radiations Oscillating

Between Earth's core and Heavens Cosmic Gates

 

Action turns to stillness, attention Follows

the Oxygenated Rhythm

Vibrations of intensity

Surge past and Thru

 

Now-ness invades the total-ness of Being

The thin-stretched Skin

Of Terrestrial Life

Enters from all Perception

 

Wafts of heat driven Air

Dust and Touch

With gentleness and Blessings

Distant snowfields bounce Echos

of Light

Sounding the bell-tones

of a million leaf cells

Curled around the smiling Blossom

of gathered Sun-Sounds

 

All to modulate this total Being

and Send charging energy Up

the three-fold Path

To spontaneously Explode

in the Feelings of

LOVE

by

shine

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=5&subID=139

http://www.atomfilms.com/af/content/atom_520

http://www.atomfilms.com/af/content/made_meat

Even so a bird, near to giving birth, already careful, already afraid, wonders on what branch to hang her vacant house; here she foresees winds, here thinks anxiously of serpents, here of men; finally as she doubts, a shady place takes her fancy; scarce has she alighted on the stranger boughs and all at once she loves the tree.

Statius, Achilleid

"If speculation tends thus to a terrific unity, in which all things are absorbed, action tends directly backwards to diversity. The first is the course or gravitation of mind; the second is the power of nature. Nature is the manifold. The unity absorbs, and melts or reduces. Nature opens and creates. These two principles reappear and interpenetrate all things, all thought; the one, the many."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Plato; or, the Philosopher", Representative Men

 

There are two basic types of string theories: those with closed string loops that can break into open strings and those with closed string loops that can't break into open strings. String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects (strings) rather than the zero-dimensional points (particles) that are the basis of the Standard Model of particle physics. For this reason, string theories are able to avoid problems associated with the presence of point-like particles in theories of physics, in particular the problem of defining a sensible quantum theory of gravity. Studies of string theories have revealed that they predict not just strings, but also higher-dimensional objects. String theories are classified according to whether or not the strings are required to be closed loops, and whether or not the particle spectrum includes fermions. In order to include fermions in string theory, there must be a special kind of symmetry called supersymmetry, which means for every boson (particle that transmits a force) there is a corresponding fermion (particle that makes up matter). So supersymmetry relates the particles that transmit forces to the particles that make up matter.

 

Quantum fields are well-known to violate all the pointwise energy conditions of classical general relativity. 'Invoking a new paradigm is not too radical since since the prevailing model of physical reality has regularly undergone paradigm shifts and this has always involved moving ever further from our common-sense notion of reality. The standard dichotomy between matter and mind arose at a time when one could adopt the simplistic view that the arena of reality is 3-dimensional space. However, since then the physicist's world-view has changed profoundly and it is clear that our physical sensory systems reveal only a very limited aspect of reality. In particular, General Relativity explains gravity by proposing that the world is 4-dimensional and Kaluza-Klein theory explains electromagnetism by adding a fifth dimension; this is wrapped up so small that it cannot be observed directly but its existence neatly explains Maxwell's equations.'*

 Modern extensions of this idea propose that the other physical interactions can be accounted for by invoking further wrapped-up dimensions. In "M-theory", for example, the total number of dimension is 11, while in the "superstring" theory it is 10. One thus has an 4-dimensional "external" space and a 6 or 7-dimensional "internal" space. In the most recent variant of this idea, proposed by Randall and Sundrum, the extra dimensions may not even be compactified and the physical Universe is regarded as 4-dimensional "brane" in a higher dimensional "bulk". This is very far removed from the naive view of reality adopted by the sort of reductionist materialists who reject psychic phenomena out of hand.

Perhaps an example from modern physics may help make better sense of this. "String Theory" posits that the all the fundamental particles in nature are constituted by strings vibrating in nine-dimensional space. As Brian Greene explains:

Nicholas Humphreys joins some more dots with Seeing Red.

Just as a violin string can vibrate in different patterns, each of which produces a different musical tone, the filaments of superstring theory can also vibrate in different patterns.

But these vibrations don't produce different musical notes; remarkably, the theory claims that they produce different particle properties. A tiny string vibrating in one pattern would have the mass and the electric charge of an electron; according to the theory, such a vibrating string would be what we have traditionally called an electron. A tiny string vibrating in a different pattern would have the requisite properties to identify it as a quark, a neutrino, or any other kind of particle.

Thus String Theory claims that the vibrating string is an electron because it has all the properties of an electron. My theory of consciousness claims that a subject who is creating the appropriate activity in a reverberating circuit in his brain is having a red sensation because he has all the properties of a subject having a red sensation.
Well, perhaps both these ideas are hard to grasp. But it's not clear that the latter is necessarily so much harder than the former.

 

 

*B. Carr (2001), "Can physics be extended to accommodate psi?", Proceedings of the 22nd Annual International Meeting of the Alternative Natural Philosophy Association, ed. Arleta Griffor, ANPA (anpa-list@sitename.com, using 'yahoogroups' for the sitename).

... (2003), "Is there space for psi in modern physics?" abstract for Euro-PA 2003 conference, http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~bdj10/psi/carr2003.html

 

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html

This article i(written by Scientist John Paly) presents the backdrop of system knowledge, the knowledge of fundamental design and Principle of Nature. The system design is built on fundamental facts of nature. It is based on the observation of matter and life and its interaction. A time direction is an important fact on which the system design is built. Science has overlooked the time direction, disorder and destruction by introducing Probability Theory. The probability theory however does not exclude “0” and “1”. The system vision deduces the time direction to human mind, its conquering motive and corruption.  

The Grand Unified Theory and The Intelligent Design

 Secret of Quantum Reality  and Creation  

The Relation between the Created and the Creator

The Relationship between Mind, Matter and Consciousness - The Secret of Unfolding and Enfolding Information

Introduction 

Reluctant revelation of Quantum nature of energy transfer by Planck and discovery of Uncertainty Principle by Heisenberg, broke the mechanistic and predictable world view on which science was built. Scientist failed to develop a consistent and sensible view of nature on which they can build and explore nature. However human instinct to exploit conquer and corrupt nature prevailed as scientist joined hands to develop a new language [ Statistic and Probability] to exploit matter. Quantum Mechanics came at a price of sacrificing the reality of nature. However, the conclusion and inference of quantum science liberated Human mind and its search for knowledge from the clutches of Physicist and their perimeter.

The field now became open for physicist, biologist, meta-physicist, mystics, spiritualists ---- The consequence was disordered world  that gave rise to multitude of information or knowledge, that sharpened human conquering motive and corruption in the absence of a Central Information that can control and guide the whole. To put it in the language of non linear scientist's led by Noble Laurat  Ilya Prigogine - Human quest for Knowledge came to a bifurcation point and entered a chaotic path. In other words Human quest reached a boiling point where a phase change has became inevitable.

The Great Question Now is

1] To where is the chaos leading the world to? is there any hope for Humanity? If so How is it Going to come? Will there be a Great Attractor around which everything collapses spontaneously into a new order.

2] Or as Quantum scientist think, is there an observer outside whose observation reveals the reality of nature.

3] Or as the religious science thinks, is there a God who is coming to Judge and initialize the world back into order. Will Jesus Return to Reveal Again or Shiva open His third Eye to burn everything and create new.

 Or all the above question is simply different faces one aspect of survival of life and information?

The  site brings forth the limitations of scientific knowledge and the spiritual ones and brings forth the system design of the Universe and its oneness on facts of nature. It explains and accounts all the knowledge humanity accumulated through  his material [science] and spiritual existence and brings up its oneness.

It brings forth a fundamental principle and design for all the systems in nature and the whole. It identifies and differentiates, the mind and consciousness of  individual systems and the Universal System thus settling some of the greatest questions of scientific and spiritual world

No body can dispute the fact that mankind’s intervention on nature is changing the face of the earth. All his intelligence and power is being used to conquer and corrupt nature, in other words he has been using it in a negative way. In addition to the immense material power that mankind has gained, one also notes equal increase in human spiritual power. However both these powers at his disposal in the absence of Knowledge of inter relationship and oneness of nature is creating huge negative energy that is being accumulated in the earth’s core as well as its environment. Quantum science has proved to us that somehow human consciousness and intelligence influences all that is happening in the universe. But scientists have failed to find any foundation to understand the influence.

The system design notes that universal system is a dynamic system and is a determined one. It moves in two phases a winding phase to the center and an unwinding phase to the outside. [Pulsating Existence]. Thus it accounts for the scientific knowledge and ancient spiritualistic knowledge. We are now in the unwinding phase right in the boundary, ready for a change in phase. All the negative energy that mankind has accumulated by his conquering motive and corruption are bound to be released at the phase change. The recent disturbances in the earth, sun, our solar system and the galaxies are related with it.

The system design advocates a Living Universe with earth as the heart and sun as the brain. It notes that just as an ECG will describe the state of the heart and danger to the human system, the activities in the sun becomes an indication about what is going to come to earth and the whole. See - Solar Flare and Climate Change. Our scientific knowledge does speak that every system has an associated wave. This wave as it reaches to certain peak is bound to collapse to give way to a new order. The wave seems to have peaked. Scientists have noted alarming change in the solar system. [See the list in– Solar Flare and Climate Changes]. A Russian scientist Alexy N. Dmitriev has given elaborate proof of irreversible changes in earth magnetic core and its environment. [ see article in Planetophysical change of Earth and Life in the site http://www.tmgnow.com ] The Mayan Calendar and date, 2012 December 21 seems to be a reality. The dominant west because of its economic concern seems to close its eyes to these alarming trends. What it is failing to understand is that foundation of economy is life and what is at risk is Human life.The great conclusion of the system design is that Universal Consciousness and Universal Intelligence control the whole system. The time and death to the whole universe comes from individuated consciousness and intelligence that exist in ignorance. In other words, the whole system tends to the limit to the center and periphery by human conquering motive and corruption.  The instinct of the system wishes that the whole remain around the equilibrium point [see fig below - dotted circle] but by design the individuated system tends to the limits to the center and periphery [death points]. At this point the Universal Consciousness and Universal Intelligence is forced to recreate and initialize the system. At the center the Universal intelligence goes recessive to the Universal Consciousness such that renewal process can go on. As the universal system is pushed to the outer limit the Universal Intelligence takes control to initialize time

Full diagrammatics here

At the Edge of Reality: Quantum State Reduction and Consciousness
Quantum theory describes the bizarre wave/particle duality of energy and matter at very small scales. The behavior is so strange that the American physicist Richard Feynman once commented "anyone who claims to understand quantum theory is either lying or crazy."

Strange as it is, quantum theory offers features which may be relevant to consciousness. One is that large collections of quantum particle/waves can merge into unitary coherent states of macroscopic size and influence. Superconductors, Bose­Einstein condensates and lasers are unitary states in which component atoms or molecules give up individual identity and behavior. Such coherent quantum states have been suggested to occur among brain proteins to provide unitary "binding" in vision and sense of self11,12.

Another feature involves "quantum superposition." Components of isolated small scale systems can exist in different states or locations simultaneously. This is contrary to our perceived macroscopic world in which objects have well defined positions and are decidedly concrete. The problem is the transition-why and how do microscopic quantum superposed states become classical and definite in the macro-world? This problem is called quantum state reduction, or collapse of the wave function, and it may be the key to both consciousness and reality.

Experimental evidence in the early part of this century led great theorists Bohr, Heisenberg and Wigner to conclude (the "Copenhagen interpretation") that objects remain in wave-like quantum superposition until observed by a conscious human being-consciousness causes collapse of the wave function! To illustrate the apparent absurdity of this conclusion, in the 1930's Schrodinger devised his famous thought experiment Schrodinger's cat. A living cat is placed in a box into which poison can be released by a quantum event, e.g., sending a photon through a half-silvered mirror. So after the photon has been sent there are equal possibilities that the cat is either dead or alive. But according to the Copenhagen interpretation until a conscious being opens the box to observe, the cat is both dead and alive. Schrodinger's point was that the conscious observer interpretation was incorrect.

Many physicists now believe that intermediate between tiny quantum-scale systems and "large" cat-size systems some objective factor disturbs the superposition to cause collapse, or "objective reduction (OR)." According to Roger Penrose2,13 this objective factor is an intrinsic feature of spacetime itself (quantum gravity). As mass is equivalent to spacetime curvature, Penrose begins with the notion that quantum superpositionactual separation (displacement) of mass from itself is equivalent to simultaneous spacetime curvatures in opposite directions, causing "bubbles," or separations in fundamental reality (Figure 1b). Penrose reasons that these bubble-like separations are unstable and reduce to specific states and locations after a critical degree of separation. If proto-conscious experience is rooted in the Planck scale, then objective reductions (Whitehead's occasions of experience) may ripple through an experiential medium.

Could OR events occur in the brain? The critical spacetime separation precipitating Penrose's OR is given by the uncertainty principle E=h/T. E is the energy of the superposed mass, h is Planck's constant over 2pi, and T is the coherence time until reduction. The size (and energy) of a superposed system (degree of spacetime separation) is inversely related to the time T until self­collapse. If isolated, a large system (e.g. Schrodinger's one kilogram cat) will undergo OR very quickly, e.g. in only 10-37 seconds. A small system such as a single isolated superposed atom would undergo OR only after 107 years. OR brain events would be linked to neural processes with T in the range of tens to hundreds of milliseconds (e.g. 25 msec intervals in coherent 40 Hz). For T=25 msec (40 Hz) OR events, E corresponds to roughly 3 nanograms (3 x 10-9 gram) of superposed brain mass.

Nanograms of what? Which biological structures could function as both classical and quantum computers, avoid environmental decoherence and couple to neural-level activities? Microtubules are the logical candidates.

Are Microtubules Quantum Computers? The Penrose­Hameroff "Orch OR" Model
Interiors of neurons and glia are functionally organized by webs of protein polymersthe cytoskeleton14. Its major components are microtubules, actin and intermediate filaments. Microtubules are self­assembling hollow cylinders whose walls are crystalline lattices of subunit proteins known as tubulin. Evidence links the neuronal cytoskeleton to cognitive functions, and theoretical models suggest interactive microtubule subunits function as molecular automata capable of nanosecond-scale computation (Figure 2a)4.

Roger Penrose and I have developed a model in which quantum superposition, objective reduction and quantum computation occur in microtubule automata within brain neurons and glia. Microtubule­associated­proteins (MAPs) provide feedback and "tune" the quantum oscillations; the proposed OR is thus self­organized ("orchestrated" objective reduction"Orch OR")15-21. In the Orch OR model microtubule quantum computation is isolated from decoherence (Box 1) and continues until threshold is met (E=h/T) and an OR event occurs (Figure 2b). For example an OR event coinciding with one 40 Hz cycle (T = 25 msec) would require E = 2 x 1010 superposed tubulins (roughly 20,000 neurons).

Quantum computation in the Orch OR scheme differs from technological proposals in that superpositions in the latter will reduce to output states by environmental decoherencecomputation is terminated by intervention and choice of states has an element of randomness. On the other hand, in the Orch OR scheme isolated superpositions self-reduce due to instability in spacetime separation. The choice of outcome states, according to Penrose, is therefore neither completely deterministic nor random, but has an element of non-computabilityinfluenced by Platonic logic embedded in spacetime. Penrose has also suggested that aspects of human understanding and consciousness involve non-computability, a controversial and widely assailed claim. Although outnumbered by his critics, Penrose has thoroughly and systematically answered them3. Non-computability is a clue, a delicate thread with which to unravel the mystery of consciousness.

Each event selects (non­computably) particular configurations of Planck-scale experiential geometry and corresponding classical states of microtubule automata which regulate synaptic/neural functions suggest sequences of discrete conscious events (e.g. at 40 Hz) can provide a "stream" of consciousness.