"The origin of consciousness reflects our place in the universe, the nature of our existence. Did consciousness evolve from complex computations among brain neurons, as most scientists assert? Or has consciousness, in some sense, been here all along, as spiritual approaches maintain?" ask Hameroff and Penrose in the current review. "This opens a potential Pandora's Box, but our theory accommodates both these views, suggesting consciousness derives from quantum vibrations in microtubules, protein polymers inside brain neurons, which both govern neuronal and synaptic function, and connect brain processes to self-organizing processes in the fine scale, 'proto-conscious' quantum structure of reality."
"Consciousness depends on anharmonic vibrations of microtubules inside neurons, similar to certain kinds of Indian music, but unlike Western music which is harmonic," Hameroff explains.Science Daily
Discovery of Quantum Vibrations in 'Microtubules' Inside Brain Neurons Supports Controversial Theory of Consciousness
6 comments:
This is wrong. This is also antiSemetic potentially.
The Maharashi who was a 5th Beatle declared that the East was better than the West too & different.
But we know from a Jesuit Zen that there is no separation or dichotomy in the betweens ... the differentiation is in the perceiver's mind.
Therefore Penrose is wrong since his microtubules explicate such nonsense.
Mountains are not men as John Cage would say ....
Maharashis are not maharashis sometimes too
Shameless self-promotion: See my book, Who Do You Say I Am: — Reframing Jesus in Light of Perennial Wisdom and The Gospel of Thomas, available for free download here, in particular the chapter on perennial wisdom. I argue that all wisdom traditions, including those embedded in the normative institutional religions can be interpreted as different expressions of perennial wisdom, the fundamental teaching of which is that being is one and can be experienced and lived as such through supra-mental cognition. The quantum field theory of consciousness supports this view. This study doesn't so it but is consonant with it.
Although perennial wisdom can be seen as the foundation of Qabalah, Sufism, and mystical Christianity, it is not well known in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, hence in Western culture, since the normative institutional structure of these religions have regarded it as heresy. That is not the case in Eastern traditions, where the embedded wisdom traditions are honored (although often with lip service rather than practice) rather than condemned.
BTW, Maharishi was a Vedantist of the Shankaracharya tradition of Advaita, although he taught that it was not necessary to believe anything to practice his meditation technique and get the mundane benefits of less stress and better functioning. Maharishi encouraged scientific research into the effects of meditation and their physiological and psychological correlates. For example, theoretical physicist John Hagelin has written and spoken prolifically on the quantum nature of consciousness. See for instance, Is Consciousness the Unified Field? A Field Theorist's Perspective As one might expect, he has caught at lot of flak for this views, but there are a number of physicists and scientists of other fields that have embrace similar positions.
"But we know from a Jesuit Zen that there is no separation or dichotomy in the betweens ... the differentiation is in the perceiver's mind."
Right, that would be Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle.
The basics are simple to grasp and everyone presumes one of the options usually through cultural influence rather than reflection. Philosophy is just reflection on what we already presume.
There are only a few metaphysical aka ontological options. Monism (one stuff), dualism (two stuffs), and many stuffs.
The options in monism are matter as the one stuff, called materialism, and consciousness (sometime called mind) as the one stuff, called idealism.
Dualism is the assumption that there are two basic stuffs, consciousness or mind, and matter. However, many on the side of consciousness would distinguish consciousness and mind, with mind and matter emergent from consciousness as the only basic stuff. This accounts for dualism on the basis of monism.
There are also various multi-stuff options that have been assumed historically, such as element theories, e.g., four elements (earth, air, fire and water) and five elements (earth, air, fire, water and space.
Today the primary alternatives are materialism, idealism, and dualism.
A fundamental question is whether consciousness emerges from matter (materialism) or matter from consciousness (idealism). That is to say, does matter produce consciousness as an emergent property. or does consciousness manifest matter. Or are they essentially independent of each other, as dualism assumes.
There are a lots of people that assume materialism, idealism and dualism, and fewer today that assume a multi-stuff model. A question arises over is whether it is possible to construct a compelling proof of one of the options, or is it possible that there is another option that has not been thought of.
The jury is still out on this. There are good reasons for accepting each of the alternatives and they have been hotly argued for millennia. But as yet there is no compelling evidence for accepting any one of these alternatives as conclusive. They remain assumptions, and they lie at the foundation of different worldviews.
My argument is that if one accepts the testimony of mystics the world over from time immemorial, the anecdotal evidence points to idealism, i.e., consciousness only. Otherwise, that testimony needs to be explained away as hallucination, for instance. The problem with that is those who testify to this non-ordinary experience are considered the wise of all cultures. Moreover, experiments in physiology and psychology are suggesting that non-ordinary cognitive-affective states can be cultivated by following the practices that the wise prescribed for doing so.
Why is this important. Well for one thing the worldview that one adopts has consequences for one's view of human nature and then influences one's social, political and economic orientation.
Homo economics and Bentham's calculus of utility are grounded in materialism, for example where happiness is equated with pleasure as material satisfaction. Utility is self-interest in this sense and it is "rational" to maximize in one's life. The one with the most toys at the end wins the game of life.
But if consciousness is one, then the self is not limited to the individual self existing independently. Everyone and everything is joined at the root, and it is possible to experience this affectively through love and cognitively through realization of consciousness as the only reality. There is ample testimony of this in the literature of perennial wisdom.
Tom
What is the name of the three author book from 35 years ago with Erich Fromme, hispanic author and another ... probably refers to dt suzuki ..
Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis by Erich Fromm (Author) , D. T. Suzuki (Author) , Richard De Martino (Harper, 1960)
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