by Scarlett de Courcier

Created on: January 25, 2009

The question of the quantum nature of consciousness is not one to which the answer is 'known' in any sense, even among the scientific community. Nonetheless, light is gradually being shed on the links between quantum theory and consciousness. But how can a theory of physics have wide-ranging implications for an area that has long been thought of as having its place somewhere between psychology and biology?

It would appear that the world as we know it is not so linear as it initially seems. Yes, causes have effects; yes, these effects or reactions are generally equal and opposite. But sometimes things are a little more complicated. Sometimes a reaction can be prompted by something so small that its effect would be predicted to be negligible; this is similar to the well-known "butterly flaps its wings in the Amazon, and a tornado happens in Texas" effect.

Penrose and Lockwood are probably two of the best-known names in the world of quantum consciousness. Penrose's chapters on Goedelian theory and its implications for artificial (and hence non-artificial) intelligence are excellent, and accessible to those with an interest in the subject. Lockwood's 'Mind, Brain & The Quantum: The Compound 'I'' is a beautifully written account of how quantum consciousness is beginning to be understood.

Goedelian mathematics links to quantum consciousness in a way that initially seems rather obscure - Goedel proves a theorem, which implies one of four pathways, which can be gradually eliminated to just the one, which implies a quantum nature of consciousness. Goedel's theorem is far too complex to explain in this article; a longer article can be found here. Briefly, however, David Hilbert in 1899 posited a mathematical system of axioms and rules through which it would be possible to decide the truth or falsity of any mathematical proposition correctly formed within it. Goedel, however, goes on to disprove Hilbert's proposal by means of the creation of an arithmetical proposition which is not proven within the system, a full description of which can be found in this book.

What does this have to do with consciousness? In discussing the idea of whether artificially intelligent objects can become conscious, we have four possible routes:

I. Yes, they can - all thought is merely computation, and the feeling that we are conscious is evoked by the carrying out of appropriate computations.

II. Probably - consciousness is a feature of the brain's physical action. Any physical action can be

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