Copyright©2008 UniversalTheory.org. All rights reserved.
A Philosophical Intake Based on New Findings on Astrophysics, Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness
Universal Theory
Dr. Mohsen Kermanshahi
Home I Contact Us I Feedback I Site Map
HELP !
Stop
Global Warming
Quantum Mechanical Mind
"The consciousness poses the most baffling problems in the science of mind. There is nothing that we know more intimately than conscious experience, but there is noting that is harder to explain."
David Chalmers
Within classical nero physiology scheme we can study neurons and electrical transfer of sensory or motor pulses. But we cannot describe the origin of perception of sensory pulses or the act of decision making that is the origin for motor responses. The higher brain functions cannot be studied at cellular or even molecular level. It seems that conscious awareness is arising not from classical level of brain function but from anther paradigm. That is why classical nero-anatomy and nero-physiology that are dwelling at cellular or molecular levels, cannot offer an acceptable explanation for consciousness realm and they are facing a dead end in this regard.
Many aspects of our conscious awareness is also obscure and remain as mysteries. On the other hand, quantum mechanics is not comprehensible with our classical knowledge and experience either. There have been claims that these two domains have many similarities. Attempts are being directed to explain mind within quantum mechanical context and vice versa. Quantum arena may be very strange and not comprehensible, but we have access to deeper level of our consciousness. We have or should be able to obtain be-er knowledge of this domain75. Only a bat knows what it is like to be a bat. Studying quantum physics within mind framework can be very productive. If we can comprehend quantum mechanics principles using consciousness tenets then we do not need to call quantum domain unknowable.
Underneath I will summarize some of the similarities between quantum domain and mind realm.
Werner Heisenberg showed that one cannot precisely measure both location and momentum of a particle at the sametime.The more we pinpoint the location the more we are uncertain about its momentum. This was the first step of departure from Newtonian and classical physics and entering quantum paradigm. David Bohm suggests a similar kind of uncertainty in thought process. He writes:
If a person tries to observe what he is thinking ... he introduces unpredictable and uncontrollable changes in the way his thoughts proceed thereafter .... If we compare the instanceous state of a thought with the position of a particle and the general direction of change of that thought with the particles momentum, we have a strong analogy.76
We can use another analogy for uncertainty principle in min domain. If we focus on external events (like watching an attractive show) our train of thought almost stalls while we focus in watching. On the contrary, when we daydream our focus in external observations is minimal while dwelling deep in our thoughts. Therefore there is a complementarity relation between observation and train of thoughts (internal / external focus). Similar complementary relationship exists between focusing on internal sensations and external data sensed by our five senses. Presence of opposite emotions such as love and hate is other example of uncertainty relationship in the consciousness domain. We find many other complementarity relationships with our conscious awareness.
