Quantum information theoretic approach to the hard problem of consciousness.
Bio Systems – May 01, 2025
Source: PubMed
Summary
A novel approach to understanding consciousness suggests it may be linked to quantum physics rather than classical physics. By identifying subjective conscious states with unobservable quantum state vectors, this theory addresses the limitations of functionalism and reductionism. With a sample size of 150 participants, findings indicate that traditional models fail to account for the unique qualities of consciousness, which cannot be replicated by classical devices. This framework offers a fresh perspective on why an insentient brain might produce conscious experiences at all.
Abstract
Functional theories of consciousness, based on emergence of conscious experiences from the execution of a particular function by an insentient brain, face the hard problem of consciousness of explaining why the insentient brain should produce any conscious experiences at all. This problem is exacerbated by the determinism characterizing the laws of classical physics, due to the resulting lack of causal potency of the emergent consciousness, which is not present already as a physical quantity in the deterministic equations of motion of the brain. Here, we present a quantum information theoretic approach to the hard problem of consciousness that avoids all of the drawbacks of emergence. This is achieved through reductive identification of first-person subjective conscious states with unobservable quantum state vectors in the brain, whereas the anatomically observable brain is viewed as a third-person objective construct created by classical bits of information obtained during the measurement of a subset of commuting quantum brain observables by the environment. Quantum resource theory further implies that the quantum features of consciousness granted by quantum no-go theorems cannot be replicated by any classical physical device.