Testing the Conjecture That Quantum Processes Create Conscious Experience

Entropy, vol. 26, pp. 460

Abstract

The question of what generates conscious experience has mesmerized thinkers since the dawn of humanity, yet its origins remain a mystery. The topic of consciousness has gained traction in recent years, thanks to the development of large language models that now arguably pass the Turing test, an operational test for intelligence. However, intelligence and consciousness are not related in obvious ways, as anyone who suffers from a bad toothache can attest—pain generates intense feelings and absorbs all our conscious awareness, yet nothing particularly intelligent is going on. In the hard sciences, this topic is frequently met with skepticism because, to date, no protocol to measure the content or intensity of conscious experiences in an observer-independent manner has been agreed upon. Here, we present a novel proposal: Conscious experience arises whenever a quantum mechanical superposition forms. Our proposal has several implications: First, it suggests that the structure of the superposition determines the qualia of the experience. Second, quantum entanglement naturally solves the binding problem, ensuring the unity of phenomenal experience. Finally, a moment of agency may coincide with the formation of a superposition state. We outline a research program to experimentally test our conjecture via a sequence of quantum biology experiments. Applying these ideas opens up the possibility of expanding human conscious experience through brain–quantum computer interfaces.

Authors 9

1. Hartmut Neven corresponding

   Google (United States)

   Affiliation as printed

   Google Quantum AI, Los Angeles, CA 90291, USA

   Google Quantum AI, Venice Beach, Los Angeles, CA 90291, USA

2. Adam Zalcman

   Google (United States)

   Affiliation as printed

   Google Quantum AI, Los Angeles, CA 90291, USA

   Google Quantum AI, Venice Beach, Los Angeles, CA 90291, USA

3. Peter Read
   Affiliation as printed

   Read Family Foundation, Penn HP10 8LL, UK

4. Kenneth S. Kosik

   University of California, Santa Barbara

   Affiliation as printed

   Neuroscience Research Institute, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

5. Tjitse van der Molen

   University of California, Santa Barbara

   Affiliation as printed

   Neuroscience Research Institute, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

6. Dirk Bouwmeester Aachen Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory

   Leiden University · University of California, Santa Barbara

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

   Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, 2311 EZ Leiden, The Netherlands

7. Eve Bodnia

   University of California, Santa Barbara

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

8. Luca Turin

   University of Buckingham

   Affiliation as printed

   Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences|Biomedical Research, University of Buckingham, Buckingham MK18 1EG, UK

9. Christof Koch

   Allen Institute

   Affiliation as printed

   Allen Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA