Modelling of consciousness and interpretation of quantum mechanics

A conscious observer must be a physical object that can store local events by setting part of itself into a fixed quantum state. Probability is defined as the proportion of identical observers who will actually experience a given future event, which recovers standard quantum results. The second part of the paper builds a neuronal model of mind functions, where self-consciousness arises when the mind measures the random behavior of certain neurons—randomness that reflects a coexistence of multiple possibilities. The mind's decision-making component then selects one possibility, unifying conscious experience as what the ego is aware of.

Study at a glance

Abstract

I start from the fundamental principles of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, without probability, and interpret them using the notion of coexistence: a quantum state can be read, not uniquely, as a coexistence of other quantum states, which are pairwise orthogonal. In this formalism, I prove that a conscious observer is necessarily a physical object that can memorize local events by setting one of its parts in an exactly specified constant quantum state (hypotheses H1, H2 and H3). Then I define the probability of a future event as the proportion of initial observers, all identical, who will actually experience that event. It then becomes possible to establish the usual results of quantum mechanics. Furthermore, I detail the link between probabilities and relative frequencies. Additionally, I study the biological feasibility of this modelling of observer's mind. The second part of this paper completes the neuronal description of the mind functions, based on current neuroscientific knowledge. It provides a model that is compatible with the assumptions of the first part and consistent with our daily conscious experience. In particular, it develops a model of self-consciousness based on an explicit use of the random component of neuron behaviour; according to the first part, that random is in fact the coexistence of a multiplicity of possibilities. So, when the mind measures the random part of certain neurons in the brain, he goes himself within each of these possibilities. The mind has a decision-making component that is active in this situation, appearing then as the cause of the choice of this possibility among all the others. This models the self-consciousness which then ensures the unity of our conscious experience by equating this experience with ``what the ego is conscious about''. The conclusion details the points that remain to be developed.