Hi Rob,
--- Rob D <8rjd1@qlink.queensu.ca> wrote:
> Hey Patrick,
> The quantum mind is a very interesting idea. Although from my
> knowledge of
> quantum, large scale structures are less likely to feel quantum
> effects, so
> I'm not sure if I really understand how the quantum effects would
> emerge on
> such a large scale.
That is indeed a practical problem, how the wet and warm brain can
establish large-scale quantum effects. It has been addressed by a few
people; see Hameroff's homepage for some ideas:
www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff
But, as I tried to make clear in my previouss posting, arguably
nonlocality is needed to solve the so-called binding problem, that's all
about the 'unity of consciousness'; why we see a triangle, whereas the
brain has to build such a representation somehow of simpler elements.
The reductionist view is not adequate here, and the mind has to be a
some (theoretically) unknown quantum phenomenon, and I'm not sure if one
can even talk then about 'simpler' and 'complex' 'elements'...
> I am familiar with quantum computers, and the mind seems to be able
> to do
> what they do, which fits the theory.
> I don't contend that emergence of has to be magical, it can be
> evolutionary
> rather than revolutionary. In an over used analogy, like the emergence
> of
> society from biological. It could happen slowly, over time. A gradual
> awakening into conciousness from a few cells with nothing better to do
> than
> recieve inputs from the senses and make simple logic choices (like eat
> vs.
> sleep). Who knows, it has evolved over millions of years.
Yes, evolution is gradually, and sophisticated consiousness developed
through hunderd million years of evolution. But it's only *emergent* in
the sense that biology has found a way to use the already present
*potential* of conscious entities to develop... consciousness may be a
fundamental component of the universe. The thing is with the standard
evolutionary point of view of consciousness gradually emerging out of
dead matter, is that it can't answer the question why consciousness
should be created out of something which initially presumably lacks
consciousness. Tell me how to create something from nothing, and I will
change my opinion maybe...;)
> That was very interesting though. I'm interested to see how the
> science
> unfolds in the next 20 years.
Yes, I agree, I'll bet the quantum mind and quantum computers can be a
reality in theory and praxis, maybe within the next 20 years, maybe
within the next 50 or so...
Patrick.
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