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Location, Timing Of Mental Processes Is Irrelevant For Foundations Of Quantum Mechanics

In the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory, S10E19, Leonard felt left (eftl ftle) out patch Penny was getting closer to Rajesh.

Meanwhile, Sheldon too Amy began their natural too thought-provoking collaboration. Sheldon has the same background every bit I do too so it's natural for him to think well-nigh foundations of quantum mechanics. And Amy is a neuroscientist – much similar the actress Mayim Bialik PhD. At or too so moment, they decided to cooperate. During the cooperation, they establish out that fights brand their thinking sharper too so they fought well-nigh the way how to work this discovery.



The interdisciplinary topic they investigated is rattling natural too many people receive got asked similar questions. Amy knows a lot well-nigh processes inwards the encephalon too edifice blocks of the brain, Sheldon knows a lot well-nigh the foundations of quantum mechanics. Can or should these 2 self-evidently scientific topics endure combined? Does the neuroscience truly enjoin us where too when the collapse of the moving ridge component associated amongst the standard – amongst the perception of its results – takes place?




It sounds natural but I think that this whole way of thinking – the rattling fact that Amy too Sheldon cooperated – is based on the conflation of 2 rattling different meanings of a "mind".
Genius: Off-topic. "Genius" well-nigh Einstein, a sitcom filmed inwards Czechia, premieres on National Geographic on Apr 26th. Here you lot receive got a novel 4-minute sneak peek amongst 2 Einsteins. The older ane is a religious motivational speaker making the students meditate well-nigh fourth dimension too creating a huge Lord's Day inwards the classroom. The younger ane is a brilliant, distracted, independent educatee of an old-fashioned aggressive teacher. Both portraits are in all probability detached from the existent history to a large extent but it looks similar adept fine art too amusement to me.
Quantum mechanics needs a "mind" – of the observer. Neuroscience studies how "mind" operates. But these aren't the same minds. Or at to the lowest degree the 2 scientific disciplines report the mind's rattling different, inequivalent aspects.




The existent departure is that neuroscience is a natural scientific discipline focusing at the encephalon every bit if it were only or too so other external object – only similar stars, plants, or combustion engines. On the other hand, quantum mechanics needs an observer that defines a perspective – too from this perspective, the heed of this observer itself is an internal, non external, entity. And that makes a large difference.

So the questions which parts of the encephalon incorporate which data at what moments too how they interact too communicate is undoubtedly an absolutely legitimate laid of questions inwards science. But it is a laid of derivative questions well-nigh or too so detail physical objects, non questions that tin influence the foundations of physics. Neuroscience is the physics of the encephalon but only similar a computer, the encephalon is a composite, structured physical organization that follows the laws that ane may determine at a more elementary level.

On the other hand, the rattling existence of observations – or, if you lot let me to audio only a footling flake to a greater extent than spiritual, the consciousness that is aware of the outcome of the observations – is an elementary assumption inwards all of modern physics, too thence all of science. To endure applied, quantum mechanics solely needs the data what is known well-nigh the basis past times the observer. It doesn't confine how the data is obtained at all. At most, quantum mechanics says that the observer's perception itself too the methods how he gets his data must endure trustworthy, otherwise the laws of quantum mechanics can't determine the probabilistic patterns inwards the observer's perceptions. But that "limited responsibility" existed fifty-fifty inwards classical physics, didn't it? Even inwards the era of classical physics, it was agreed that if you lot await at an representative of planets instead of the lens of a telescope, the displace of the planets you lot run across don't receive got to obey Newton's laws.

And the data well-nigh the basis that the observer knows exists "independently of infinite too time". Well, an observer may also influence limbs too other organs – too her surroundings – which is why her location isn't quite irrelevant. But when nosotros say that the observer knows something "at a given moment", she nevertheless knows well-nigh the nation of other objects at different locations too slightly different fourth dimension (at to the lowest degree \(\Delta t = \Delta x / c\) inwards the past).

In practice, the noesis is represented past times or too so data stored inwards the encephalon but it doesn't truly matter. Another betoken is that the moving ridge component itself isn't "localized" inwards whatever way. The moving ridge component e'er contains the probabilistic (amplitude) data well-nigh everything at that topographic point is. It's solely a component of three dimensions inwards the simplified models of mechanics of 1 particle. But to a greater extent than generally, similar inwards a quantum land theory, it's solely the operators, non the moving ridge function, that are "localized" – connected amongst regions of the spacetime.

For those reasons, a key physicist tin non solely endure ignorant well-nigh the pieces of the encephalon patch he talks well-nigh the basic workings of quantum mechanics. He tin endure ignorant well-nigh the rattling basic fact that the retentiveness too CPU of a human beingness is localized inwards the brain. I receive got e'er been amused past times the next question:
How did the people figure out that their thinking too retentiveness is stored inwards the brain? Did all cultures know it?
Today, you lot tin honor EEG to run across quite or too so correlation betwixt the mental processes too the activeness inwards the brain. But people didn't receive got EEG too similar things inwards the past, did they? So did they know – too how did they know – that the retentiveness too awareness aren't located inwards the stomach, lungs, heart, kidney, penis, glands, or whatever other organ of the human body? Do you lot receive got a adept respond to that? Do you lot straight "feel" that your self-awareness is sitting within your skull? Or are or too so of you lot capable of pinpointing the house "where you lot remember" to a greater extent than accurately than that?

I desire to say that patch quantum mechanics totally needs or too so observers aware of the results of observations to exist, which basically way that it pre-assumes the existence of or too so consciousness, it doesn't fifty-fifty depend on the fact that most of these activities dealing amongst the data are located within the skull! In classical physics, the encephalon was only a tool, a component of the passive observers that weren't truly needed to formulate the laws governing the behaviour of the external objects at all.

In quantum mechanics, an observer is needed but inwards or too so sense, it's non truly the brain itself that is needed. In this sense, quantum mechanics is only similar classical physics where your encephalon wasn't needed for the behaviour of the external objects. What is needed inwards quantum mechanics is the existence of a perspective. For the perspective to endure usable every bit a organization that may verify or too so laws of physics, ane needs the perspective to endure carried past times an object similar to the encephalon that tin detect, transmit, too analyze information. But whether this perspective physically stores the data within the skull or within a server connected through the Internet cloud is irrelevant.

For this reason, I think that everything that Amy too Sheldon receive got discussed seems to endure a component of the neuroscience too has nix implications for the foundations of physics.



Killing nighttime energy

Another topic. The Daily Mail, an RAS press release, too others say that 68% of the Universe doesn't exist. That's nice. What this nonsensical judgement is supposed to encode is that nighttime loose energy isn't needed for acceleration of the cosmic expansion, according to this 2016 Hawaii-Hungarian paper (also at RAS).

They claim that the hateful land approximation – too the full general approach using the FRW Ansatz – doesn't piece of work because it neglects the tidal forces too boundary effects (in a painting where patches of the Universe are connected). With or too so aid of a computer, they claim that Einstein's equations without the cosmological constant term are capable of emulating it because of the existence of structures.

I regain it rattling unlikely. The journalists – too Scott Aaronson (and climate modelers) – powerfulness endure impressed past times a simple figurer simulation. But if the hateful land approximation etc. were truly neglecting or too so of import (and large – the nighttime loose energy is already dominating the loose energy density of the Universe) effects, at that topographic point would receive got to endure a clear theoretical declaration or calculation (without computers) showing where the fault was hiding. With the reliance on computers, it looks similar they are screwing something well-nigh the boundary atmospheric condition or making or too so numerical mistakes etc.

The newspaper has almost no citations but because it was published inwards an RAS journal, it got or too so publicity inwards the media. Those are only bad mechanisms to create upward one's heed well-nigh the amount of attending that a newspaper should brand it the regular media.

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