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Brian

Consciousness and the double-slit interference pattern

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No, I'm not going to get involved in this one.  It's not time to aggravate you again.

"possible role of consciousness in the collapse of the quantum wavefunction. "

 

Your tax dollars at work. But at least there is an abstract in French, which is classy. 

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Oh look a hook with a fat wiggly quantum worm on it. Shall I bite it ? Hmmmm

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As a result of nothing more than gut feeling and no understanding of how the brain functions - I've often thought this might be how our consciousness works.

 

Our 'mind' is a supposition of many different thoughts and feelings, all of which are simultaneous existent at any one time. This is analogous to how, in quantum mechanics, opposing states can exist (and interact) at the same time.

 

The interpretation that our consciousness 'collapses' some of these states into one being, to me, makes sense.

 

i.e. how to use gut feeling

 

If I ask myself, 'What would I like to do tonight?', I sometimes don't get an answer.

 

But, if I can reduce the question to a single, yes or no response, my gut reaction is easier to read. So, 'Do I want a curry tonight?', is far more effective.

 

When I do this, my consciousness collapses all of the numerous feelings I have about it (such as can I afford it, can I be bothered to cook etc) into a single state - yes or no, which I can feel.

Edited by Miffymog
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the act of observation, whether from a camera or our consciousness, is absolutely a collapsing of the quantum wave function, though the two are not of the same nature. 

 

 

every interaction that gives rise to classical macroscopic phenomena has this feature of the quantum wavefunction collapse.  this happens in such stupendous numbers in the macroscopic world, it is difficult if not impossible to measure, which is why we are left to speak of minute particle interactions and manifestations thereof.

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if you bite it in half, you will have two. a food for thought.

 

Or I just concentrate my awareness on the worm and it falls off the hook.

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Lol, protective reactions...?

 

It's rather a side issue for objectivists. Philosophy drives science and science does the empirical metaphysical work. If a scientist goes looking for ghosts and believes they have found them they must adequately explain the connection between this and that. An experiment of this type is like that. It says nothing about the nature of consciousness or how consciousness reacts with photons, or explains the duality of the wave/particle. It simply creates more questions than it seeks to answer.

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It's rather a side issue for objectivists. Philosophy drives science and science does the empirical metaphysical work. If a scientist goes looking for ghosts and believes they have found them they must adequately explain the connection between this and that. An experiment of this type is like that. It says nothing about the nature of consciousness or how consciousness reacts with photons, or explains the duality of the wave/particle. It simply creates more questions than it seeks to answer.

to see, to bleed, cannot be taught

 

 

given some of the sights I have seen in my years, I've determined that there's nothing like the receiving and interpreting the originating photons (and such) with your own senses.  whether looking out over a vast mountain range, being moved by an exemplary symphony performance,  sliding down the gravity well from way too high in the air, or experiencing the omnidirectional yet non directional light shining with no associated spacetime experience....you gotta do it yourself to fully appreciate it.

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to see, to bleed, cannot be taught

 

 

given some of the sights I have seen in my years, I've determined that there's nothing like the receiving and interpreting the originating photons (and such) with your own senses.  whether looking out over a vast mountain range, being moved by an exemplary symphony performance,  sliding down the gravity well from way too high in the air, or experiencing the omnidirectional yet non directional light shining with no associated spacetime experience....you gotta do it yourself to fully appreciate it.

 

You seem to have gone a bit tangential this afternoon :-)

 

I have no idea what you are on about, other than the senses, sense things and give us perceptual data. That much is certainly true, but what is conceptualised and extrapolated from those perceptions is quite another thing. However, whatever we do perceive is exactly how it is even if we can't yet figure out how what's going on.

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. However, whatever we do perceive is exactly how it is even if we can't yet figure out how what's going on.

oh, I wasnt insinuating that the senses were infallible ;)

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oh, I wasnt insinuating that the senses were infallible ;)

The senses are infallible, whatever they sense IS what's out there. It's is the conceptual formation which is fallible. The old bent stick in the beaker of water example illustrates that perfectly.

Edited by Karl

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In other words: You claim that there is no such thing as hallucinations...?

You mean perceptual errors. No, but then, like dreams you see you have a term for them 'hallucinations'. If I gave you LSD you would see a distorted kind of world. Most definitely it is perceptual error, but then you know something odd is going on, that reality has melted and you might be inclined to react to the distortions because you were impaired and could not determine what was reality.

 

Luckily we don't all live in a perpetual trip, we are able to discern reality from hallucination because we have both concepts.

 

Good question Wells.

Edited by Karl

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"possible role of consciousness in the collapse of the quantum wavefunction. "

 

Your tax dollars at work. But at least there is an abstract in French, which is classy. 

 

No tax dollars spent, this was privately funded.  Scroll down to pp. 171--172 for a list of grantors.

 

95% of our tax dollars is spent on things far more unimaginable and unknowable. 

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