¶ … Mind and Human Behavior
Define and discuss a particular theory of consciousness
Consciousness can be best grasped in context as a facet of an interactive wakeful state wherein most cognitive processing occurs non-consciously. However, on combining non-conscious and conscious processing in the wakeful state, how can we differentiate one from the other, how can consciousness be defined, and what purpose does it serve? The conclusions drawn with respect to the former question critically influence how the latter question is answered. What property makes a state non-conscious rather than conscious? This section will support the argument that, out of all possible answers commonly put forth (i.e., accessibility, intentionality, reflexivity, subjectivity), the element-- reflexive, auto noetic-consciousness -- is the only one observed solely in the state of consciousness (Peters, 2013).
The Quantum Theory of Consciousness
The consciousness issue has opposed traditional approaches, in which the human brain is perceived as a computer having synapses and neurons, functioning as bit states. The following perplexing issues, in particular, are still unsolved: (1) conscious experience's nature (conscious experience is also termed as inner life or qualia), (2) combining of dissimilar processes of the brain into unified objects, concepts, and self-image (3) switch from pre-consciousness to consciousness (4) subjective time flow, (5) non-locality, and (6) intuitive, non-algorithmic processes or free will (Hameroff, Craddock & Tuszynski, 2014).
Traditional neuron-level computational theories indicate that qualia arise at some critical complexity level. It is suggested that temporal synchrony (clear 40 Hertz oscillations, for instance) explains binding; however, when there is no awareness of conscious experience's nature, temporal synchrony proves to be only correlative, and not descriptive. The issue that, probably, is most likely manageable is the shift into consciousness, from pre-consciousness. It has been widely accepted that the major share of human brain processes have a non-conscious nature and that, in fact, consciousness represents a very small part of the brain's activity. Consciousness, however, doesn't reside in any distinct area of the brain. Neural brain activity in any particular region can be conscious at one instant, and non-conscious the next. According to the classical idea, what brings about this conscious-non conscious switch is a critical complexity level; once again, there isn't any threshold, testable prediction, or biological correlate that has been presented. The traditional approaches, apart from refuting the existence of free will, non-locality and subjective flow of time, do not pay any serious attention to these aspects (Hameroff et al., 2014).
Scientists, motivated by quantum theoretical techniques' application to brain studies (and that of other human biological structures), started investigating the functioning of the human brain from the point-of-view of microscopic quantum physics. Umezawa and Ricciardi are credited with making the foremost endeavor to explain the human brain, in the year 1967, by means of quantum-physical terminology. On the basis of their examination of human brain activity, the researchers suggested that one might view the brain as a system, spatially-distributed and arranged, by external, environmental stimuli, in certain quantum states. Hence, using this perspective, one can consider information coded into one's brain as meta-stable excited states that represent short-range memory. Subsequently, the code would be moved to the system's ground state via condensation; Bose-Einstein condensation explains long-term memory and learning.
Umezawa and Ricciardi's theory suggests that functions of the brain are representations of unplanned symmetry that break into the brain's dynamics, controlled by long-term associations. This theory, which links brain function (particularly, memory) and quantum states on the macroscopic level, was extended later on to suggest that our brain constitutes an integrated physical system. This version of the theory regards the human brain as comprising two separate interacting portions: the first comprises the brain neurons' classical electrochemical connections, while the other represents macroscopic-level quantum state in charge of creating and maintaining molecular-level memory (Hameroff et al., 2014).
Penrose, in a 1994 study, explored the link of consciousness with modern physics through a sensational demonstration comprising Godel's theorem, Turing machines, quantum and classical mechanics, chaos, relativity, thermodynamics, cosmology, brain neurophysiology, quantum gravity, and quasi-crystals. He used the discipline of mathematics to link the artificial computer domain with the natural physical one. Penrose demonstrated the non-algorithmic nature of our consciousness by employing the incompleteness theorem of Godel; using this as groundwork, he asserted that brain function's physical theories aren't complete because of reliance on calculable algorithm. Furthermore, he theorized that an integral role is played by quantum effects in comprehending human consciousness, as they enable the human brain to carry out non-calculable operations. While explicating the required new physics for describing consciousness...
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