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Quantum Cosmology and the Hard Problem of the Conscious Brain

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The Emerging Physics of Consciousness

Part of the book series: The Frontiers Collection ((FRONTCOLL))

Summary

The conscious brain poses the most serious unsolved problem for science at the beginning of the third millennium. Not only is the whole basis of subjective conscious experience lacking adequate physical explanation, but the relationship between causality and intentionally willed action remains equally obscure. We explore a model resolving major features of the so-called “hard problem in consciousness research” through cosmic subject-object complementarity. The model combines transactional quantum theory, with chaotic and fractal dynamics as a basis for a direct relationship between phase coherence in global brain states and anticipatory boundary conditions in quantum systems, complementing these with key features of conscious perception, and intentional will. The aim is to discover unusual physical properties of excitable cells that may form a basis for the evolutionary selection of subjective consciousness, because the physics involved in its emergence permits anticipatory choices that strongly favor survival.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, University of Auckland, Private Bag, 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    Chris King

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  1. Chris King
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Alberta, T6G 2J1, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Jack A. Tuszynski

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King, C. (2006). Quantum Cosmology and the Hard Problem of the Conscious Brain. In: Tuszynski, J.A. (eds) The Emerging Physics of Consciousness. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-36723-3_13

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