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In quantum mechanics, wave function collapse occurs when a wave function, initially in a superposition of several eigenstates, reduces to a single eigenstate due to interaction with the external world. This interaction is called an "observation."
When the "observer effect" was first noticed by the early pioneers of quantum theory, they were deeply troubled. It seemed to undermine the basic assumption behind all science, that there is an objective world out there, irrespective of us. If the way the world behaves depends on how - or if - we look at it, what can "reality" mean? But one way or another, it is hard to avoid the implication that consciousness and quantum mechanics are somehow linked.
The quantum mind is a group of hypotheses proposing that classical mechanics cannot explain consciousness. It posits that quantum mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement and superposition, may play an important part in the brain's function and could explain consciousness.
The main theoretical argument against the quantum mind hypothesis is the assertion that quantum states in the brain would lose coherency before they reached a scale where they could be useful for neural processing. Ordinary nerve signals have to be treated classically. But if you go down to the level of microtubules, a microscopic tubular structure present in numbers in the cytoplasm of cells, sometimes aggregating to form more complex structures. Then there's an extremely good chance that you can get quantum-level activity inside the brain.
One particularly puzzling question is how our conscious minds can experience unique sensations, such as the color red, sounds of a symphony, or the smell of frying bacon. We all know what red is like, but we have no way to communicate the sensation and there is nothing in physics that tells us what it should be like.
Sensations like this are called "qualia". We perceive them as unified properties of the outside world, but in fact, they are products of our consciousness.
It's my suggestion that the universe is in a quantum feedback loop with the human mind. A feedback loop is the part of a system in which some portion (or all) of the system's output is used as input. The five senses transfer information as electrical signals to the brain, wherein the mind formulates an overall determination of its surroundings. The material world is essentially transformed into nonmaterial digital data as conscious thoughts. The human mind, through quantum consciousness, projects this information back into the fuzzy world of quantum field fluctuations, giving particles position, shape, and definition, via the wave function collapse, thereby completing the circuit to create our classic mental version of reality.
It does not, in this view, exactly determine "what is real". It, simply, interactively, creates order and makes sense, on a macroscopic scale, of an incomprehensible quantity of information bombarding a limited brain. In other words, our brains are continuously processing a tremendous amount of data, about the outside world, on a subconscious quantum scale, in order for us to operate and behave in a simpler cohesive manner. We're discovering the underlying, sub-atomic minutia about reality that evolution decided to not make us aware of and over complicate and confuse our relative existence. We generally stay focused on the larger scale of life, in order to adapt to our environment.
BBC - Earth - The strange link between the human mind and quantum physics
Quantum Approaches to Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Physicists observe weird quantum fluctuations of empty space—maybe | Science | AAAS
Experimental Demonstration of Coherent Quantum Feedback | SpringerLink
Quantum feedback control of linear stochastic systems with feedback-loop time delays - ScienceDirect
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/275016/
When the "observer effect" was first noticed by the early pioneers of quantum theory, they were deeply troubled. It seemed to undermine the basic assumption behind all science, that there is an objective world out there, irrespective of us. If the way the world behaves depends on how - or if - we look at it, what can "reality" mean? But one way or another, it is hard to avoid the implication that consciousness and quantum mechanics are somehow linked.
The quantum mind is a group of hypotheses proposing that classical mechanics cannot explain consciousness. It posits that quantum mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement and superposition, may play an important part in the brain's function and could explain consciousness.
The main theoretical argument against the quantum mind hypothesis is the assertion that quantum states in the brain would lose coherency before they reached a scale where they could be useful for neural processing. Ordinary nerve signals have to be treated classically. But if you go down to the level of microtubules, a microscopic tubular structure present in numbers in the cytoplasm of cells, sometimes aggregating to form more complex structures. Then there's an extremely good chance that you can get quantum-level activity inside the brain.
One particularly puzzling question is how our conscious minds can experience unique sensations, such as the color red, sounds of a symphony, or the smell of frying bacon. We all know what red is like, but we have no way to communicate the sensation and there is nothing in physics that tells us what it should be like.
Sensations like this are called "qualia". We perceive them as unified properties of the outside world, but in fact, they are products of our consciousness.
It's my suggestion that the universe is in a quantum feedback loop with the human mind. A feedback loop is the part of a system in which some portion (or all) of the system's output is used as input. The five senses transfer information as electrical signals to the brain, wherein the mind formulates an overall determination of its surroundings. The material world is essentially transformed into nonmaterial digital data as conscious thoughts. The human mind, through quantum consciousness, projects this information back into the fuzzy world of quantum field fluctuations, giving particles position, shape, and definition, via the wave function collapse, thereby completing the circuit to create our classic mental version of reality.
It does not, in this view, exactly determine "what is real". It, simply, interactively, creates order and makes sense, on a macroscopic scale, of an incomprehensible quantity of information bombarding a limited brain. In other words, our brains are continuously processing a tremendous amount of data, about the outside world, on a subconscious quantum scale, in order for us to operate and behave in a simpler cohesive manner. We're discovering the underlying, sub-atomic minutia about reality that evolution decided to not make us aware of and over complicate and confuse our relative existence. We generally stay focused on the larger scale of life, in order to adapt to our environment.
BBC - Earth - The strange link between the human mind and quantum physics
Quantum Approaches to Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Physicists observe weird quantum fluctuations of empty space—maybe | Science | AAAS
Experimental Demonstration of Coherent Quantum Feedback | SpringerLink
Quantum feedback control of linear stochastic systems with feedback-loop time delays - ScienceDirect
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/275016/