Recent content by testingus

Hello, Is it possible to build a qubit from an atom with a nuclear spin of zero (ie. 16O, 12C, 32S)? Would it depend on electron spin instead? Thanks!

Yes, numerically I understand this, but what is the physical basis for this assumption in a biological system? Updating methods can have a serious effect on observed phenomena [1]. Wouldn't choosing smaller step sizes imply that faster processes (i.e. molecular interactions) are synchronized...

Thanks Pythagorean, but the cited material is presentation and not a publication which can be read. Is it related to the work by Gollo et al. [1] ? If so then I have to question the results. The methods used solve differential equation based models of neurons (Hodgkin-Huxley) using...

I hear what you are saying, but this is like saying that "Beethoven's 5th" and "noise" are essentially the same thing because they are both sound. I agree that the electrical activity is important, but the coherent synchrony is the key. No argument here. In regards to this, from the Varela...

It's not the simple electrical activity of neurons alone, but rather the coherent neuronal oscillations that correlate with all basic cognitive functions and consciousness. These oscillations are mediated by local and long-range neuronal communication and affect synaptic plasticity. It is...

Are macroscopic quantum phenomena, such as lasers and superfluidity, examples of weak emergence?

Thanks Pythagorean! Always great info. Do you have any citations where the difference between "weak" and "strong" emergence is discussed? Also, do you have citations for this? Is there a reason why strong emergence hasn't been observed (i.e. no way to measure?)?

Thanks Feeble Wonk! Do you have any citations that discuss this? In regards to your descriptions: Would this be what Pythagorean refers to as "weak" emergence? And would this then be "strong" emergence? see:

I recently read the published article: Stuart Hameroff, How quantum brain biology can rescue conscious free will. Front Integr Neurosci. 2012; 6: 93. PMCID: PMC3470100 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3470100/ From this it seems that current neuroscience views consciousness as an...

I don't quite understand what you mean by this. Can you elaborate? How can anything really execute infinite steps in finite time? The reason for invoking QM has to do with the non-algorithmic nature of consciousness (ala Penrose's Goedel argument in The Emperor's New Mind).

Thanks bhobba! Is that to say then, that while the system remains coherent it is in a quantum state (ie. superpostion, entangled etc.), and that once it decoheres it becomes classical? Do you have any citations for this that I can read up on?

Is there any good reason to not believe that anymore? Have people looked at this?

Thanks for the reply. I'll try and clarify. My question is regarding the assertion that "consciousness is mysterious and quantum mechanics is mysterious, so maybe the two mysteries have a common source." From this statement it seems as if these two concepts (consciousness and QM) are two...

Several theories try and explain consciousness from a quantum perspective. Most notoriously the Penrose-Hameroff Orch OR hypothesis comes to mind, but there are others by Henry Stapp, Giuseppi Vitiello, and Gustav Bernroider to name a few. The consciousness philosopher David Chalmers has...

I thought the "too warm and wet" argument against QM processes in biology had been put to rest? The work in the field of photosynthesis (Greg Engel, Greg Scholes) has shown that thermal noise can assist quantum coherent energy transfer in these systems. The spatiotemporal scale concern is one...