Causal Set Quantum Gravity and the Hard Problem of Consciousness
arXiv Preprint Archive September 16, 2022 Fay Dowker
The paper develops Rafael D. Sorkin's proposal that the birth of spacetime atoms in causal set quantum gravity, a partially ordered process, provides an objective physical correlate of the perception of time passing. It argues that a fully objective, external picture of this birth process is impossible because the order of birth is partial. The author proposes that live experience in causal set theory is an internal view of this objective process, where events that are neural correlates of consciousness occur. What animates a neural correlate of consciousness is the same process that animates the whole universe: the unceasing, partially ordered birth of spacetime atoms.