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Quantum Physics & Dualism:

Is Orthodox Quantum Physics consonant with a Plausible Dualism?

Introduction

The problem of the relation between mind and body is well known as a difficult `world knot'. Over the centuries various monistic and dualistic theories have been proposed, and the subject has had renewed interest as we try to assimilate the implications of quantum physics. These implications may make us re-examine our views of brains and bodies, but it is still not clear what consequences they have for our understanding of minds.  We may suspect that quantum mechanics and consciousness are related, but the details are not at all clear. 

More detail ..

Essential Papers

• Eugene Wigner: Remarks on the Mind-Body Question
• Michael Esfeld, Essay Review: Wigner’s View of Physical Reality (cc)
• Hans Primas and Michael Esfield, A Critical Review of Wigner’s Work on the Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Theory (cc)

• Henry Stapp (home, preprints)
  proposes that minds select the times of probabilistic 'measurement' events, but not directly the probability outcomes:
  • Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics, 1993 (2nd ed, 2004, 3rd ed., 2009)
  • Why Classical Mechanics Cannot Naturally Accommodate Consciousness but Quantum Mechanics Can, 1995.
  • Quantum theory and the role of mind in nature, 2001,
  • Quantum physics  in neuroscience and psychology: a neurophysical model of mind/brain interaction, 2004. (pub, cc)
  • Quantum Interactive Dualism: An Alternative to Materialism, 2005; also at Zygon. (cc)
  • Clarifications and Specifications: Conversation with H. Atmanspacher, JCS 13 (2006) 67
  • "The Mindful Universe", 2007: Springer. (Amazon)
  • Physicalism Versus Quantum Mechanics
  • Searle's "Dualism Revisted" (Searle article; other comments)
  • The Effect of Mind upon Brain (cc: pdf, html)
  • Compatibility of Contemporary Physical Theory with Personality Survival (cc)
  • Nondual Quantum Duality (cc)
  • Quantum Theory of Mind,
  • The Hard Problem: A Quantum Approach (cc),

  For counter arguments to Stapp, see

  • Matthew Donald, On the Work of Henry P. Stapp, 2003 (cc), and Stapp's reply.
  • David Bourget, Quantum Leaps in Philosophy of Mind,  (JCS 11, Dec 2004, cc), and Stapp's reply (JCS 11, Dec 04, cc)
  • Kirk Ludwig, Why the Difference Between Quantum and Classical Physics is Irrelevant to the Mind/Body Problem, (Psyche, 2(16), 1995) (cc).
     
• Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose
  • Stuart Hameroff, Consciousness in the universe: A review of the 'Orch OR' theory (cc),
  • Stuart Hameroff, How quantum brain biology can rescue conscious free will (cc),
  • Jeffrey Reimers, The revised Penrose-Hameroff orchestrated objective-reduction proposal for human consciousness is not scientifically justified (cc),
  • Jack Tuszynski, The need for a physical basis of cognitive process -Comment on ''Consciousness in the universe. A review of the 'Orch OR' theory'' by Hameroff and Penrose (cc),
• Brian D. Josephson and Fotini Pallikari-Viras, Biological Utilisation of Quantum NonLocality (list),
• Brian D. Josephson, Beyond quantum theory: a realist psycho-biological interpretation of reality' revisited, propose that biosystems may have evolved to exploit patterns of events which appear random to physics.
• Jose Acacio de Barros, Can we Falsify the Consciousness-Causes-Collapse Hypothesis in Quantum Mechanics? (cc),
• Friedrich Beck, Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness (cc)
• Jean Burns, The Action of Consciousness and the Uncertainty Principle (cc)
• Peter Clarke, Neuroscience, quantum indeterminism and the Cartesian soul (cc)
• Danko Georgiev, Quantum Interactive Dualism: From Beck And Eccles Tunneling Model Of Exocytosis To Molecular Biology Of Snare Zipping (cc),
• Danko Georgiev, Mathematical Error in 'Incompatibility between quantum theory and consciousness' by Daegene Song (cc),
• Priti Gupta, On Evolution and the Quantum and Classical Regimes in Brain Function (cc),
• Stuart Hameroff and Deepak Chopra, The “Quantum Soul”: A Scientific Hypothesis (cc,cc)
• David Hodgson, The Mind Matters - Consciousness and Choice in a Quantum World, 1993. [list]
• Adrian Kent, Quanta and Qualia (cc),
• D.E. Klemm and W.H. Klink, Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics: Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics: Opting from Alternatives  (scribd, cc)
• Igor Limar, Determination of the Nature of Consciousness by Quantum Effects:  Phenomenology and Some Methodological Approaches (cc),
• W Miranker, A Quantum State Model of Consciousness,
• Chris Nunn, Collapse of a Quantum Field May Affect Brain Function (cc),
• Don Page, Consciousness and the Quantum (cc),
• Lothar Schafer, Quantum Reality, The Emergence of Complex Order from Virtual States, and the Importance of Consciousness in the Universe (cc),
• E.H. Walker, Dualism, Causal Loops in Time, and the Quantum Observer Theory of Paraphysical Phenomena
• Barry Ward, Is There a Link Between Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness? (cc),
• Fred Alan Wolf, The Quantum Physics of Consciousness: Towards a New Psychology (cc),
• Antonella Vannini, Quantum Models of Consciousness (cc),
• Rüdiger Vaas, Why Quantum Correlates of Consciousness Are Fine, But Not Enough (cc)
• Shan Yu, Quantum mechanics needs no consciousness (cc),
• In context of Divine-Nature Dualism, essentially the same questions arise:
• Robert Brecha, Schrödinger's Cat and Divine Action: Some Comments on the use of quantum uncertainty to allow for God's action in the world, 2002 (cc)
• Jeffrey Koperski, God, Chaos and the Quantum Dice (cc)
• Jeffrey Koperski, The Quantum Amplification Problem Appears to be Unsolvable (cc),
• Alvin Plantinga, What is "Intervention"? (cc)
• Nicholas Saunders, Does God Cheat at Dice? Divine Action and Quantum Possibilities, 2000. (cc)
• Leigh C. Vicens, On the possibility of special divine action in a deterministic world (cc)

Related papers and references:

• David Chalmer's list for "Consciousness and Physics"
• philpapers.org category: Consciousness and the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
•  Sylvain Poirer's Links on consciousness and quantum physics

Books

• Jack A. Tuszynski and Nancy Woolf (eds), The Emerging Physics of Consciousness (cc)
• Robert John Russell, Cosmology: From Alpha to Omega. Discussion of a possible "non-interventionist objective divine action" also here.

Conclusions

Quantum Physics may be indeterministic about the detailed choices between differerent outcomes for some classes of microscopic events, namely decoherent measurements, but it is not completely arbitary. Rather, it makes very precise predictions for the probabilities of those outcomes, and, furthermore, the evolution of these probability distributions is completely deterministic.

Either dualist input influences the choice of when decohering measurements occur (as Stapp suggests), or it changes the probabiliities of different outcomes (as Saunders et al also consider). In the first case, the range of influence is extremely limited, and hardly plausible in a dualist theory. In the second case, the dualist input change the probability rules of quantum physics, in just the same way as dualist input would have to change Newton's laws of motion if it were to influence classical systems.

We conclude therefore, with Saunders and Brecha, that it is very doubtful that any dualist or divine input into the operation of the natural world proceeds by exploiting the small residual indeterminism of quantum physics. Dualist control in quantum physics is no easier than in classical physics. That is, any influence of a dual degree must affect those properties of objects that are also measured by physics.

The challenge, therefore, is to find a coherent theory which explains what, how, when and why those physical properties are changed.

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