Devices allowing people to write letters or play pinball using just the power of their brains have become a major draw at the world’s biggest high-tech fair.
Huge crowds at the CeBIT fair gathered round a man sitting at a pinball table, wearing a cap covered in electrodes attached to his head, who controlled the flippers with great proficiency without using hands.
“He thinks: left-hand or right-hand and the electrodes monitor the brain waves associated with that thought, send the information to a computer, which then moves the flippers,” said Michael Tangermann, from the Berlin Brain Computer Interface.
SOURCE: http://www.physorg.com/news186908536.html
Is Consciousness Primary?
Michel Bitbol
Abstract
Six arguments against the view that conscious experience derives from a material basis are reviewed. These arguments arise from epistemology, phenomenology, neuropsychology, and philosophy of quantum mechanics. It turns out that any attempt at proving that conscious experience is ontologically secondary to material objects both fails and brings out its methodological and existential primacy. No alternative metaphysical view is espoused (not even a variety of Spinoza’s attractive double-aspect theory). Instead, an alternative stance, inspired from F. Varela’s neurophenomenology is advocated. This unfamiliar stance involves (i) a complete redefinition of the boundary between unquestioned assumptions and relevant questions ; (ii) a descent towards the common ground of the statements of phenomenology and objective natural science : a practice motivated by the quest of an expanding circle of intersubjective agreement.
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Is Quantum Mechanics Needed to Explain Consciousness?
Knud Thomsen
Abstract
In this short comment to a recent contribution by E. Manousakis it is argued that the reported agreement between the measured time evolution of conscious states during binocular rivalry and predictions derived from quantum mechanical formalisms does not require any direct effect of quantum mechanics. The recursive consumption analysis process in the Ouroboros Model can yield the same behavior.
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Enhanced Power within a Predicted Narrow Band of Theta Activity During Stimulation of Another by Circumcerebral Weak Magnetic Fields After Weekly Spatial Proximity: Evidence for Macroscopic Quantum Entanglement?
Michael A Persinger, Eric W Tsang, J Nicholas Booth, Stanley A Koren
Abstract
We tested if “entanglement” could be demonstrated between two non-sibling brains with only a history of spatial proximity if one brain was exposed to a consciousness-structured, continuously accelerating, circumcerebral magnetic field to access this connection. Four pairs of strangers met and remained within one meter of each other for one hour, twice per week, for four weeks. After this period the brain of the stimulus person of the pair, who was seated in a closed chamber, was exposed successively to six (5 min each) different complex circumcerebral magnetic fields that were rotated counterclockwise. Quantitative monopolar electroencephalographic measurements over the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes were collected by computer for the response person of the pair who was seated in another room. The predicted increase in electroencephalographic power within the 5.0 Hz to 5.9 Hz band over the temporal lobes (but none of the other lobes), similar to that observed previously for siblings, was noted for the response persons when the stimulus persons received frequency modulated, circumcerebral magnetic fields at 20 msec rates of change per solenoid. The response persons also reported unusually intense “sensed presences”, anger, and sexual arousal during these periods.
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Testing Quantum Consciousness
Elio Conte
Abstract
We give here a review of the experiments that we performed in the last few years to conclude that mentals states follow quantum mechanics. As theoretical basis we give explanation of the contextual dependence of probabilities in the theoretical basis that was introduced by A. Khrennikov. In this case the classical formula of total probability does not hold true in quantum systems unless an interference terms is added that moves in analogy with quantum mechanics in which the formula of probability is violated inducing the well known effects of interference. All the experiments were carried out on normal subjects during perception and cognition of ambiguous figures. All they confirmed the presence of such quantum like interference also for mental states. From here our unequivocal conclusion that mental states follow quantum mechanics. A position of quantum mechanics as Giano Bifronte, the two faced God of mythology, is discussed with respect to its role in the analysis and characterization of mental entities.
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Partial Isomorphism of Superposition in Potentiality Systems of Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics
Franz Klaus Jansen
Abstract
Superposition of physical states in the wave function of quantum mechanics is difficult to transpose to the macrocosm, as illustrated by “Schrödinger’s cat” thought experiment. Nevertheless, in this example consciousness does not seem to be shown in its complete reality, when evaluated from a medical view-point. Although consciousness functions with reality systems, it also utilizes potentiality systems, which essentially consist in superposition of several probable situations. Some examples of superposition in consciousness are described, to illustrate requirement of potentiality systems in order to predict situations in the future or to complement events in the past. Incomplete observations, such as lacking time or space coordinates, automatically induce potentiality systems in consciousness, in order to complete the lacking coordinates by only potential but most probable coordinates. In contrast, reality systems are only present, when complete observation with exact time and space coordinates can be obtained. Potentiality systems in human consciousness also show the characteristics of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, as well as non-locality and entanglement. Superposition in potentiality systems is an essential function of consciousness, in order to allow perception of future and past events. The basic concept of superposition without corresponding mathematical formalism seems already to show partial isomorphism in the larger sense of Douglas Hofstadter between consciousness and quantum mechanics.
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Quantum Theory, Consciousness, and Being
Daegene Song
Abstract
In [NeuroQuantology 2008;6: 46-52], a certain natural phenomenon of self-observing consciousness was shown to be incompatible with the standard axioms of quantum theory. In order to consider a possibility of removing this inconsistency, which arises due to the separation between an observing party and a state vector being observed stated in the quantum theory axioms, we provide a conjecture where ‘being’, is identified with the experience of observing the state vector. That is, the observer is not observing the state vector in terms of the relative difference between reference frames, instead, the experience of observing the state vector should define the observer, or being. It is shown that the Heisenberg picture provides a natural description of this conjecture.
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A Neuroquantologic Approach to How Human Thought Might Affect the Universe
Michael Persinger, Stanley A. Koren, Ghislaine F. Lafreniere
Abstract
The cerebral processes of observation and measurement are associated with the action potential whose energy of about 10-20 J matches the magnitude associated with electric forces between ions on the neuronal membrane’s surface. Both intrinsic gravitational forces and the density of force within the domain of Planck’s length indicate the width of a membrane is resonant with all space within the universe. The required disparities near the velocity of light to explain the discrepancy between the Compton (wavelength) width and the classical width of the electron is about 10-20 J. The calculations and their resultant hypotheses in this paper suggest that human thought, as the wave form associated with action potentials, might affect matter and that the act of observation might dissociate fundamental forces anywhere and anytime within the universe due to entanglement because of the paradoxical time of expansion of Planck’s length from the smallest to largest increments of space.
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Mind Uploading and Resurrection of Human Consciousness. Place for Science?
Vadim Astakhov
Abstract
Brain trauma often affects memories, perceptions and many other cognitive functions which all together form human mind. Modern medicine tries to provide technologies which can heal damaged brain and recover stream of consciousness. In this paper, I performed simulation experiment to analyze hypothetical process of mind recovery through uploading to an artificial environment. Neuroprosthesis, brain-computer interface or brain transplant might be the candidates for such migration. A term- “Mind uploading” was introduced to define process where core vital functions migrate from the human brain to an artificial environment. To simulate the process, I suggest a topological approach which is based on a formalism of information geometry. Geometrical formalism let me simulate a simple toy mind as geometrical structures. Also, it gives powerful geometrical and topological methods for analysis of the information flows in arbitrary complex system. The approach leads me to insight of using holographic analogy for the mind migration to an artificial environment. The concept of holography is well known in optics where localized 3D shape can be recorded and later reconstructed by 2D dimensional hologram. I am using that analogy to represents the toy mind functions as a geometrical shape on information manifold. Distributed holographic representation can be created for such shape. Then holographic reconstruction process provides an algorithm to reconstruct original system. Thus the migration from original to an artificial environment and back can be seen as a holography on information manifold. Interactions between brain and an artificial environment are modeled as an entropy flow which is defined as a geometrical flow on information manifold. Such flow is an analogy of holography recording for the toy mind. The opposite process of holography reconstruction is modeled by none-local Hamiltonians defined on information manifold. The simulated process illustrate a way to restore stream of consciousness which is lost due to brain damage, degeneration or decay. At the same, the simulation demonstrated that certain physical limitations will constraint such migration.
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Theory of Consciousness
Tapan Das
Abstract
A new theory of consciousness is given based on Yukawa coupling between Nambu-Goldstone boson scalar field and electron Dirac field in the brain.
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