Mindless Sensationalism: A Quantum Framework for Consciousness
arXiv Preprint Archive August 8, 2001 via arXiv
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA framework called Sensible Quantum Mechanics proposes a precise parallel between conscious experiences and the mathematical structures of quantum physics. Conscious experiences correspond to quantum operators, and the measure of a set of possible experiences is given by the expectation value of a corresponding operator (a positive-operator-valued measure). This leads to the Conditional Aesthemic Principle: given that we are conscious beings, our conscious experiences are likely to be typical among all conscious experiences with that measure. The ideas are expressed in lay terms for philosophers of consciousness and others.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Quant-ph |
| Key finding | A framework proposes that sets of possible conscious experiences have a measure given by the expectation value of a corresponding quantum operator, leading to the Conditional Aesthemic Principle. |
Abstract
The ideas of Sensible Quantum Mechanics are expressed in lay terms for philosophers of consciousness and others. A framework is proposed and explained for the `psycho-physical-parallelism' between conscious experiences and the mathematical structures of quantum physics (e.g., a set of quantum operators obeying some algebra, and a quantum state giving the expectation value of each operator). In particular, it is proposed that each set of possible conscious experiences has a measure given by the expectation value of a corresponding operator (a positive-operator-valued measure). Then one has a generalization of the Weak Anthropic Principle named the Conditional Aesthemic Principle: given that we are conscious beings, our conscious experiences are likely to be typical experiences in the set of all conscious experiences with its measure.