In Shan Gao (ed.), Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics. Oxford University Press (forthcoming)
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Does consciousness collapse the quantum wave function? This idea was taken seriously by John von Neumann and Eugene Wigner but is now widely dismissed. We develop the idea by combining a mathematical theory of consciousness (integrated information theory) with an account of quantum collapse dynamics (continuous spontaneous localization). Simple versions of the theory are falsified by the quantum Zeno effect, but more complex versions remain compatible with empirical evidence. In principle, versions of the theory can be tested by experiments with quantum computers. The upshot is not that consciousness-collapse interpretations are clearly correct, but that there is a research program here worth exploring.
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References found in this work BETA
The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory.David J. Chalmers - 1996 - Oxford University Press.
Unified Dynamics for Microscopic and Macroscopic Systems.GianCarlo Ghirardi, Alberto Rimini & Tullio Weber - 1986 - Physical Review D 34 (D):470–491.
The Information Integration Theory of Consciousness.Giulio Tononi - 2007 - In Max Velmans & Susan Schneider (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness. Blackwell. pp. 287--299.
View all 22 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Idealism and the Mind-Body Problem.David Chalmers - 2019 - In William Seager (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Panpsychism. New York: Routledge. pp. 353-373.
Zeno Goes to Copenhagen: A Dilemma for Measurement-Collapse Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics.David J. Chalmers & Kelvin J. McQueen - forthcoming - In M. C. Kafatos, D. Banerji & D. C. Struppa (eds.), Quantum and Consciousness Revisited. DK Publisher.
If Consciousness Causes Collapse, the Zombie Argument Fails.Mousa Mohammadian - 2020 - Synthese 199 (1-2).
Filled/Non-Filled Pairs: An Empirical Challenge to the Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness.Amber R. Hopkins & Kelvin J. McQueen - 2022 - Consciousness and Cognition 97:103245.
View all 9 citations / Add more citations
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