7. Directions for Future Research.

Von Neumann's formulation of quantum theory brings human brains and minds 
explicitly into the dynamics via the operators P(e), which specify the neural
correlates of a person's conscious experiences. A principal task is now to 
map out these connections, and understand the principles by which they
operate. These tasks are facilitated in quantum theory, vis a vis classical 
theory, by the fact that the mapping between the two domains enters explicitly 
into the dynamical equations in a way that allows conscious intentions and 
efforts to causally influence brain activity in a way generally concordant 
with William James's theory of ideo-motor action and volition. The explicitly 
represented causal connection between effortful choosing and experiential 
feedback allows the functional efficacy of the intentional conscious thought 
to enter naturally, through trial-and-error learning, into the determination 
of the mapping P(e): each of us conditions by practice his own brain so that 
his intentional efforts will produce the intended consequences.
 

A closely connected question is the nature of the causal origin of the choices
described by Process 1. How do the prior states of the brain and states of
consciousness conspire to fix or influence these choices? Quantum theory
opens up the physical theory in a way that accomodates causally efficacious
consciousness, and it also imposes strong conditions on how it works. But 
does not fix the model completely. The general formulas of Newton did not 
completely specify classical physics, and, similarly, the general formulas 
of von Neumann do not specify quantum theory completely. 

Thoughout this survey I have adhered to the pragmatic scientific perspective, 
rather than the ontological one: science is viewed as a human effort involving
human thoughts and actions, and their useful consequences, not as an attempt to
comprehend the ultimate nature of reality. Within that scientific framework 
human thoughts stand out, because the entire conceptual structure is within
human thought and about human thought. Dogs, horses, and chimpanzees are 
treated as parts of the world that always evolve in accordance with the local
mechanical Process 2. When interest is enlarged to encompass moral issues and
evolutionary biology a shift to a broader framework is required. This 
extension is hindered by the difficulty of interspecies communication. 

The existence of these large outstanding issues emphasizes that the 
developments in our understanding of conscious enabled by requiring it to 
be logically compatible with the laws of physics has barely begun.