Causal Set Quantum Gravity and the Hard Problem of Consciousness

Summary

Consciousness and quantum gravity merge in a fascinating proposal: our perception of time may be linked to the fundamental "birth" of spacetime itself. This theory suggests that space and time emerge atom by atom in a precise sequence, and our conscious experience represents an internal view of this cosmic process. When our brains create conscious moments, they're tapping into the same mechanism that builds the universe.

Abstract

I develop Rafael D. Sorkin's proposal that a partially ordered process of the birth of spacetime atoms in causal set quantum gravity provides an objective physical correlate of our perception of time passing. I argue that one cannot have a fully objective, external picture of the birth process because the order in which the spacetime atoms are born is a partial order. I propose that live experience in causal set theory is an internal view of the objective birth process in which events that are neural correlates of consciousness occur. In causal set theory, what ``breathes fire'' into a neural correlate of consciousness is that which breathes fire into the whole universe: the unceasing, partially ordered process of the birth of spacetime atoms.

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