From hpstapp@lbl.gov Wed Nov 15 10:09:43 2006
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:09:42 -0800 (PST)
From: Henry P. Stapp <hpstapp@lbl.gov>
To: René Stettler <renestettler@centralnet.ch>
Subject: Re: AW: Abstract

The Causal Role of Consciousness in the Quantum Brain

Abstract

Science is basically about correlations between conscious
human experiences: that is what makes it both useful and
testable in the realm of our expanding human knowledge.
Explicit recognition of this understanding lies at the
core of the formulation of quantum theory, as it was
originally developed during the twenties by its founders.

In the prior classical physical theory consciousness
played no dynamical role: it entered as a passive witness
to a process completely and deterministically described in
a mathematical language suited to describing tiny rock-like
particle interacting with electromagnetic and gravitational
fields. But the transition of classical physics to quantum
physics converted this physical descriptions of the presumed
material realities of the earlier theory into a description
of  *potentialities* for the occurence of "events".

Each such event has both a psychologically described aspect,
which specifies an entry of a conscious event into a stream
of conscious, and also a physically described aspect, which
is expressed in the language of the quantum mathematics.
The latter aspect of the event specifies a restriction of
the prior set of mathematically described potentialities
to a reduced set that is compatible with the increased
knowledge generated by the associated entry of a conscious
experience into the stream of consciousness.

Von Neumann expanded the original Copenhagen formulation
so that each of these psycho-physical events occurs
*physically* in the  brain of a conscious agent/witness,
and occurs *psychologically* in his or her stream of
consciousness. The mind-brain interaction becomes,
thereby, a central element of the theory.

Von Neumann called the occurences of one essential type
of event by the name "process 1". This aspect of the
dynamics was contrasted to "process 2", which is the
deterministic evolution of the mathematically described
potentialities via the quantum mechanical generalization
of the classical equations of motion. Process 1 is
associated, empirically, with an experimenter's choice
of how he will act, in order to receive, possibly,
a useful experiential feed-back. Each process 1 acts
at the physical level to partition the existing
continuous quantum smear of potentialities into a
countable set of experientially distinguishable
alternative possibilities. This permits unambiguous
application of the quantum probability formulas
to empirical phenomena.

Process 1 is controlled by no known law of physics.
This break in causal chain constitutes a "causal gap"
in contemporary dynamical theory. This gap allows
in principle aspects of nature that are described in
psychological terms to become irreducible parts of
the causal base of the dynamics; parts irreducible
in principle to the aspects described in physical
terms. The requirement for  this "possibility in
principle"to become actual is tied to the physical
structure of the brain. It will be argued that our
brains are structured in a way that supports this
possibility that consciousness enters irreducibly
into the dynamics of the mind-brain.  



> > On Tue, 14 Nov 2006, René Stettler wrote:
> > 
> > > 

> > > Dear Henry
> > > 
> > > Just wanted to ask you for the abstract.
> > > 
> > > Greetings
> > > 
> > > René
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > **********************************************************************
> > > ******
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> > > THE 7th SWISS BIENNIAL  ON  SCIENCE, TECHNICS + AESTHETICS
> > > 7. SCHWEIZER BIENNALE ZU WISSENSCHAFT, TECHNIK + ÄSTHETIK
> > > Consciousness and Quantumcomputers
> > > Bewusstsein und Quantencomputer
> > > January 20-21, 2007, Lucerne / Switzerland
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> > > René Stettler
> > > rene.stettler@plymouth.ac.uk
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