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Just finished the first draft of a site paper for TAPS (The American Paranormal Society), and an abstract for the Conference on Quantum Consciousness. Conf info follows. If any of you wish to see my paper or abstract, please express an interest.
Conf Info:
From: Stuart Hameroff
Subject:
First Announcement and Call for Papers
Quantum Mind 2003
Consciousness, Quantum Physics and the Brain
March 15-19, 2003, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
www.consciousness.arizona.edu/quantum-mind2
Could quantum information be the key to understanding consciousness?
Will the study of consciousness enable quantum information technology?
The nature of consciousness and its place in the universe remain mysterious.
Classical models view consciousness as computation among the brain's neurons
but fail to address its enigmatic features. At the same time quantum
processes (superposition of states, nonlocality, entanglement...) also
remain mysterious, yet are being harnessed in revolutionary information
technologies (quantum computation, quantum cryptography and quantum
teleportation). A relation between consciousness and quantum effects has
been pondered for nearly a century, and in the past decades quantum
processes in the brain have been invoked as explanations for consciousness
and its enigmatic features. Critics deride this comparison as a mere
"minimization of mysteries" and quickly point out that the brain is too warm
for quantum computation which in the technological realm requires extreme
cold to avoid "decoherence", loss of seemingly delicate quantum states by
interaction with the environment. However quantum computation would surely
be advantageous from an evolutionary perspective, and biology has had 4
billion years to solve the decoherence problem and evolve quantum
mechanisms. Furthermore recent experimental evidence indicates quantum
nonlocality occurring in conscious and subconscious brain function, and
functional quantum processes in molecular biology are becoming more and more
apparent. Much like study of the brain's synaptic connection promoted
artificial neural networks in the 1980's, appreciation of biological
quantum information processing may promote quantum information technology.
Moreover macroscopic quantum processes are being proposed as intrinsic
features in cosmology, evolution and social interactions. Following the
first "Quantum Mind" conference held in Flagstaff at Northern Arizona
University in 1999, "Quantum Mind 2003" will update current status and
future directions, and provide dialog with skeptical criticism of the
proposed synthesis of quantum information science and the brain.
Confirmed Plenary Speakers include:
Sir Roger Penrose, Henry Stapp, Guenter Mahler, Dick Bierman, Scott Hagan,
Harald Walach, Jiri Wackerman, Jack Tuszynski, Nancy Woolf, Koichiro
Matsuno, Paavo Pylkkanen, Stuart Hameroff, Paola Zizzi, Alexander Wendt,
Jeffrey Satinover, Roeland van Wijk, and Guenter Albrecht-Buehler
Submitted abstracts will be considered for Plenary Talks, Short Talks or
Posters. Deadline for abstract submission is October 15, 2002.
Topics:
* Quantum models of consciousness
* Quantum information science
* Decoherence, anti-decoherence and topological quantum error correction
* Cosmology and consciousness
* Protein, cytoskeletal and DNA dynamics
* Time: physics and perception
* Nonlocality and entanglement between macro-systems: experimental evidence
* Quantum mind and social science
* Skeptical criticism
For further information including abstract submission, registration and
lodging see www.consciousness.arizona.edu/quantum-mind2
Sponsored by
Center for Consciousness Studies, The University of Arizona;
The Fetzer Institute; The YeTaDeL Foundation;
The Samueli Institute for Information Biology
Organizing Committee
Stuart Hameroff, Fred Thaheld, Harald Walach Paavo Pylkkanen,
Jack Tuszynski, Dick Bierman, Nancy Woolf, Scott Hagan, Avner Priel,
Adele Behar, Pierre St. Hilaire, Paola Zizzi, Alexander Wendt,
Andrew Duggins, Jeffrey Satinover
Stuart Hameroff M.D.
Professor, Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychology
Associate Director, Center for Consciousness Studies
The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff |
