Consciousness Studies
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the Measurement Problem
In quantum physics the probability of an event is deduced by taking the square of the
amplitude for an event to happen. The term "amplitude for an event" arises because of the
way that the Schrödinger equation is derived using the mathematics of ordinary, classical
waves where the amplitude over a small area is related to the number of photons hitting the
area. In the case of light, the probability of a photon hitting that area will be related to
the ratio of the number of photons hitting the area divided by the total number of photons
released. The number of photons hitting an area per second is the intensity or amplitude of
the light on the area, hence the probability of finding a photon is related to "amplitude".
However, the Schrödinger equation is not a classical wave equation. It does not determine
events, it simply tells us the probability of an event. In fact the Schrödinger equation
in itself does not tell us that an event occurs at all, it is only when a measurement is
made that an event occurs. The measurement is said to cause state vector reduction. This
role of measurement in quantum theory is known as the measurement problem. The
measurement problem asks how a definite event can arise out of a theory that only predicts
a continuous probability for events.
Two broad classes of theory have been advanced to explain the measurement problem. In
the first it is proposed that observation produces a sudden change in the quantum system
so that a particle becomes localised or has a definite momentum. This type of explanation
is known as collapse of the wavefunction. In the second it is proposed that the probabilistic
Schrödinger equation is always correct and that, for some reason, the observer only observes
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The Philosophy of Consciousness
one particular outcome for an event. This type of explanation is known as the relative state
interpretation. In the past thirty years relative state interpretations, especially Everett's
relative state interpretation have become favoured amongst quantum physicists.
The quantum probability problem
The measurement problem is particularly problematical when a single particle is considered.
Quantum theory differs from classical theory because it is found that a single photon seems
to be able to interfere with itself. If there are many photons then probabilities can be
expressed in terms of the ratio of the number hitting a particular place to the total number
released but if there is only one photon then this does not make sense. When only one
photon is released from a light source quantum theory still gives us a probability for a
photon to hit a particular area but what does this mean at any instant if there is indeed
only one photon?
If the Everettian interpretation of quantum mechanics is invoked then it might seem that
the probability of the photon hitting an area in your particular universe is related to the
occurrences of the photon in all the other universes. But in the Everrettian interpretation
even the improbable universes occur. This leads to a problem known as the quantum
probability problem:
If the universe splits after a measurement, with every possible
measurement outcome realised in some branch, then how can it make
sense to talk about the probabilities of each outcome? Each
outcome occurs.
This means that if our phenomenal consciousness is a set of events then there would be
endless copies of these sets of events, almost all of which are almost entirely improbable to an
observer outside the brain but all of which exist according to an Everrettian Interpretation.
Which set is you? Why should 'you' conform to what happens in the environment around
you?
The preferred basis problem
It could be held that you assess probabilities in terms of the branch of the universe in which
you find yourself but then why do you find yourself in a particular branch? Decoherence
Theory is one approach to these questions. In decoherence theory the environment is a
complex form that can only interact with particles in particular ways. As a result quantum
phenomena are rapidly smoothed out in a series of micro-measurements so that the macroscale
universe appears quasi-classical. The form of the environment is known as the preferred
basis for quantum decoherence. This then leads to the preferred basis problem in which
it is asked how the environment occurs or whether the state of the environment depends on
any other system.
According to most forms of decoherence theory 'you' are a part of the environment and
hence determined by the preferred basis. From the viewpoint of phenomenal consciousness
this does not seem unreasonable because it has always been understood that the conscious
observer does not observe things as quantum superpositions. The conscious observation is a
classical observation. However, the arguments that are used to derive this idea of the classical, conscious observer contain dubious assumptions that may be hindering the progress of quantum physics. The assumption that the conscious observer is simply an information system is particularly
dubious: "Here we are using aware in a down - to - earth sense: Quite simply, observers know what
they know. Their information processing machinery (that must underlie higher functions of
the mind such as "consciousness") can readily consult the content of their memory. (Zurek
2003). This assumption is the same as assuming that the conscious observer is a set of measurements
rather than an observation. It makes the rest of Zurek's argument about decoherence and
the observer into a tautology - given that observations are measurements then observations
will be like measurements. However, conscious observation is not simply a change of state in
a neuron, a "measurement", it is the entire manifold of conscious experience.
In his 2003 review of this topic Zurek makes clear an important feature of information
theory when he states that:There is no information without representation.
So the contents of conscious observation are states that correspond to states of the environment
in the brain (i.e.: measurements). But how do these states in the brain arise?
The issue that arises here is whether the representation, the contents of consciousness, is
entirely due to the environment or due to some degree to the form of conscious observation.
Suppose we make the reasonable assumption that conscious observation is due to some
physical field in the dendrites of neurons rather than in the action potentials that transmit
the state of the neurons from place to place. This field would not necessarily be constrained
by decoherence; there are many possibilities for the field, for instance, it could be a radio
frequency field due to impulses or some other electromagnetic field (cf: Anglin & Zurek
(1996)) or some quantum state of macromolecules etc.. Such a field might contain many
superposed possibilities for the state of the underlying neurons and although these would
not affect sensations, they could affect the firing patterns of neurons and create actions in
the world that are not determined by the environmental "preferred basis".
Zeh (2000) provides a mature review of the problem of conscious observation. For example
he realises that memory is not the same as consciousness:
"The genuine carriers of consciousness ... must not in general be expected to represent
memory states, as there do not seem to be permanent contents of consciousness."
and notes of memory states that they must enter some other system to become part of
observation:
"To most of these states, however, the true physical carrier of consciousness somewhere in the
brain may still represent an external observer system, with whom they have to interact in
order to be perceived. Regardless of whether the ultimate observer systems are quasi-classical
The Philosophy of Consciousness
or possess essential quantum aspects, consciousness can only be related to factor states (of
systems assumed to be localized in the brain) that appear in branches (robust components)
of the global wave function — provided the Schrodinger equation is exact. Environmental
decoherence represents entanglement (but not any “distortion” — of the brain, in this case),
while ensembles of wave functions, representing various potential (unpredictable) outcomes,
would require a dynamical collapse (that has never been observed)."
However, Zeh (2003) points out that events may be irreversibly determined by decoherence
before information from them reaches the observer. This might give rise to a multiple worlds
and multiple minds mixture for the universe, the multiple minds being superposed states
of the part of the world that is the mind. Such an interpretation would be consistent with
the apparently epiphenomenal nature of mind. A mind that interacts only weakly with the
consensus physical world, perhaps only approving or rejecting passing actions would be an
ideal candidate for a QM multiple minds hypothesis
