Is Consciousness a Quantum Effect?

Posted 8 Sep 2003 at 13:43 UTC by steve

Roger Penrose, a long time opponent of AI, has proposed that consciousness "arises from wave-like quantum-mechanical effects involving protein filaments in nerve cells"; something he believes can't be duplicated in software. There has been no evidence to support his view in the past but recently physicists have demonstrated quantum effects in biological materials. Tetraphenylporphyrin molecules, a component of haemoglobin, exhibit the property of being both a particle with a well-defined location and a wave that can be in two places at once. While this is far from proof of Penrose's theory it may at least make it plausible.

Speculations on consciousness in humans and robots is a frequent news topic. For more news, see some of these past robots.net stories:

Researching Robot Consciousness

Cognitive Machine Claimed by Sandia

A Painfully Fishy Tale of Consciousness

The Politics of Consciousness

At One With the Universe

Consciousness in Humans and Robots

Consciousness an Electromagnetic Field?

Intel may be introducing quantum effects in chips, posted 8 Sep 2003 at 14:40 UTC by dafyddwalters » (Master)

Here's an interview with Intel Fellow Shekhar Borkar talking about Intel's plans to shift their chip designs from being deterministic to probability-based (based on quantum effects).

Perhaps Intel will inadvertently add consciousness to their processors :-)

Crank the bass!, posted 8 Sep 2003 at 23:51 UTC by The Swirling Brain » (Master)

Yeah, and perhaps spiritual consciousness comes from sub woofers!

The effects of Infrasound, posted 9 Sep 2003 at 02:14 UTC by steve » (Master)

I was a bit baffled by the infrasound story - I thought the effects had been well-known for years. Robert A Heinlein's 1941 story, "Sixth Column" relies on the spooky effects of infrasound as a major plot point. And I'm sure there are earlier references.

Cult dispersal, posted 9 Sep 2003 at 03:26 UTC by The Swirling Brain » (Master)

Is infrasound the same sort of psycho stuff they used on the Koresh compound? (or was it something different like a mix of the Back Street Boys that caused them to run screaming from the building?)