New research suggests, possibly.

 

Specifically, they postulated in a 1996 paper that consciousness may operate as a quantum wave passing through the brain’s microtubules. This is known as Orch OR theory, referring to the ability of microtubules to perform quantum computations through a mathematical process Penrose calls “objective reduction.”

 

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a62373322/quantum-theory-of-consciousness/

Edited September 27, 20241 yr by martin-w

Huh? 

Noel

Maybe Brian Josephson was right about quantum mysticism?

With all due respect to Penrose's outstanding contributions to General Relativity, a Nobel Prize does not protect you from being wrong at times. I personally do not buy into his work on quantum consciousness.

The idea that quantum physics is connected to a conscious mind came up in the 1930s when scientists were still struggling how to interpret their findings. Nowadays, most quantum scientists do not believe in it anymore. It is still popular among cosmologists because understanding the collapse of the wavefunction is only a problem if you consider the entire universe as a whole, not a part of it. For any part, decoherence theory (also explained in the link on the collapse) explains it nicely. Penrose is a cosmologist 🙂

Peter

I give this "consciousness connecting with the whole universe" notion a minuscule probability of being valid. But it wouldn't surprise me if there were quantum processes at work in the brain. 

 

 

 

Quote

 

MANY SCIENTISTS DISREGARD THE ORCH OR THEORY because quantum effects have only been produced in the lab under extremely cold temperatures. For example, our technology now includes quantum computers, but their operations rely on temperatures near absolute zero (around -273 degrees Celsius) to maintain their quantum states. The warm brain falls well outside those limits, at about 32–40 degrees Celsius (about 90–104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the deepest regions of the brain, according to a 2022 study. Yet, scientists have collected a promising set of data over the years indicating that certain quantum-level operations in animals and plants may actually be responsible for life’s functions.

For example, scientists theorize that plants, which live at temperatures far warmer than absolute zero, probably use quantum processes to efficiently convert light into energy. First, plants transform photons, or light particles, into a form of matter called excitons, transporting them to the plant’s chloroplasts to start photosynthesis. During this journey, the excitons must navigate around other internal plant structures—fast enough to preserve their energy all the way to their destination. Scientists suggest that plants must use the quantum property of superposition in order to try all possible paths simultaneously. That way, excitons can arrive at their destination in the most efficient way possible.

 

 

Penrose was just on, Theories of Everything.

 

 

5 hours ago, martin-w said:

quantum effects have only been produced in the lab under extremely cold temperatures

I realize this is only a quote and not your opinion, but I still would like to point out that this statement is not correct. Quantum effects at room temperature are routinely produced in technical applications such as quantum key distribution. However, there are different kinds of quantum effects. Entanglement is easily demonstrated without cooling. Quantum diffusion, on the other hand, is very similar to thermal effects and usually much smaller. Hence, to see quantum diffusion, you need to cool down to near absolute zero. However, even in this case, you sometimes can get around cooling. Doppler-free spectroscopy is an example where you can see quantum effects because you can eliminate thermal effects.

43:03 in the video Penrose talks about collapse of the wave function and later talks about microtubules. 

He mentions how he doesn't believe conciousness collapses the wavefunction. Which foxed me a bit, as I don't belive anybody does, these days. Unless your name is Deepak Chopra. 😄

Edited September 28, 20241 yr by martin-w

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/15280350_Quantum_optical_coherence_in_cytoskeletal_microtubules_Implications_for_brain_function#:~:text=Superradiance is a specific quantum,both thermal noise and loss.