October 2021 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Listing of Parts of Life
by Karl 27 Feb '23

27 Feb '23

-> Keep something similar to how it has been (body, environment, culture, home ...) -> Hold different approaches together and their merits (ways, cultures, genes, personalities, memes) Feel free to rewrite.

2 4

Cryptocurrency: Miners to Build New Clean Safe Nuclear Power Plants Soon, Solar, Geothermal, Etc
by grarpamp 24 Jan '23

24 Jan '23

Nuclear-Powered Crypto-Mining To Begin In Pennsylvania Next Year Amid the heated debate over Bitcoin's environmental impact in the mining space, nuclear power could be the perfect renewable energy source to power mining operations. It's no secret that bitcoin mining takes a massive amount of electricity. It's estimated that energy consumption exceeds the power consumption of countries like the Netherlands and the UAE. With the push towards ESG-Friendly bitcoin mining operations, US power company Talen Energy has been given the green light to mine cryptocurrencies using nuclear power from Susquehanna Steam Electric Station based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, according to Datacenter Dynamics. A spokesperson for Talen said Cumulus, a subsidiary of Talen Energy, has two separate businesses: Cumulus Data, focused on hyperscale data center; and Cumulus Coin, focused on digital currency mining. "As the demand for energy increases among data center and cryptocurrency processing clients, so does the call for decarbonizing these energy sources. Talen Energy is constructing a hyperscale data center campus adjacent to its Susquehanna nuclear generation facility," read a company presentation. "It will provide low-cost, reliable, carbon-free power to the data center clients on campus. This allows clients to benefit from carbon-free, 24/7 power being supplied directly to the campus, without the intermittency that renewable energy can experience, or requiring fossil fuels." Here's the layout of the nuclear-powered cryptomining facility adjacent to the power plant. The mining facility could be open as early as the first half of 2022. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been at the forefront of pushing mining operations into using "renewable energy" instead of fossil fuels. The issue behind crypto space is that computational power available to mine requires an enormous amount of energy. Days ago, a historic hydroelectric plant near Albany, New York, decided to begin cryptomining than selling its power to the grid because it could make more money. El Salvador has pitched miners of the world to flood the Central American country to embrace "cheap 100% clean, 100% renewable, 0 emissions" energy from a state-owned geothermal electric company that is powered by a volcano. The "greening" of Bitcoin also comes amid China's crackdown on miners, resulting in the hash rate —the computational power available to mine the cryptocurrency, reflecting the efficiency of the bitcoin blockchain network, plunging since mid-May. Nuclear-powered cryptomining could be the top "ESG-friendly" energy source that the crypto community and tech billionaires have been searching for. This could be a positive for uranium stocks.

1 1

Raids: Anonymous Safety Deposit Box US Private Vaults, FBI Illegal General Warrants
by grarpamp 27 Sep '22

27 Sep '22

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-02/fbi-beverly-hills-vault… FBI Raids Business Renting Anonymous Safety Deposit Boxes, Forces Customers To Reveal Identity To Get Stuff Back In a case that's already sparked one lawsuit, a Beverly Hills strip mall business which rents private, anonymous safe deposit boxes was raided by the FBI last month - at which time the agency conducted a blanket seizure of hundreds of customers' belongings. Federal agents relied on informants and at least one undercover officer to gather information about transactions that took place at U.S. Private Vaults. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) To retrieve their valuables, customers will need to "identify themselves and subject themselves to an investigation to verify their legal ownership," according to the Los Angeles Times, which noted that one customer has already gone to court claiming that the government overreached by confiscating the contents of every security box. The company, U.S. Private Vaults, has been accused of laundering money for drug dealers - who anonymously stashed guns, drugs and cash. In an indictment against U.S. Private Vaults, Inc., the U.S. attorney for Los Angeles accused the company of marketing itself deliberately to attract criminals, saying it brazenly promoted itself as a place customers could store valuables with confidence that tax authorities would be hard-pressed to learn their identities or what was stored in their locked boxes. To access the facility, customers needed no identification; it took just an eye and hand scan to unlock the door. “We don’t even want to know your name,” it advertised, according to prosecutors. -Los Angeles Times The feds used "multiple informants and at least one undercover police officer who posed as customers" to surveil the store and gather information about its customers. One of the company's owners and several employees are accused of being involved in drug sales that took place at the business, as well as helping customers to convert cash into gold in a way that would avoid suspicion. Of note, U.S. Private Vaults shared a storefront with Gold Business - named as a co-conspirator in the indictment - which is accused of helping customers convert cash into gold to avoid having to report currency transactions which exceed $10,000. A sign taped to the front door of U.S. Private Vaults instructs customers on how to recover their possessions. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) In the March 9 indictment that was unsealed Friday, a federal grand jury charged U.S. Private Vaults with three counts of conspiracy — to launder money, distribute narcotics and structure cash transactions to dodge detection. None of the people who are allegedly behind the operation were named in the court records. It is was not immediately clear whether any individuals will face criminal charges as well. -Los Angeles Times The FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency took five days to go through and process all the boxes after the raid began on March 22, according to court documents. US prosecutors argued on Friday that while the original warrant remains under seal, the magistrate judge who approved it thought that the sweeping seizures were appropriate. "The government seized the nests of safety deposit boxes because there was overwhelming evidence that USPV was a criminal business that conspired with its criminal clients to distribute drugs, launder money, and structure transactions to avoid currency reporting requirements, among other offenses," prosecutors claimed in papers filed in Los Angeles federal court. According to prosecutors, the raid produced an unspecified number of weapons, fentanyl, OxyContin, and "huge stacks of $100 bills" which were flagged by drug-sniffing dogs. One box reportedly had $1 million in cash. The indictment was unsealed on Friday - just one hour before a court-issued deadline to respond to a lawsuit brought by a US Private Vaults customers who alleged that the blanket seizure was unconstitutional. The unnamed customer, listed in court papers as John Doe, said the search warrant should not have authorized seizure of the jewelry, currency and bullion that he kept in his three boxes at U.S. Private Vaults, because there was no probable cause to suspect the person committed a crime. “Just as the tenant of each apartment controls that space and therefore has a reasonable expectation of privacy in it, each of the hundreds of renters of safety deposit boxes ... has a separate reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her separately controlled box or boxes,” the person’s attorney, Benjamin N. Gluck, wrote in the complaint. -Los Angeles Times The customer seeks to stop the FBI from requiring anonymous customers to reveal themselves and undergo an investigation to verify legal ownership of their valuables - with attorney Benjamin Gluck arguing that the government is holding his client's goods "hostage" until he identifies himself. Gluck pointed to a statement by assistant US Attorney Andrew Brown describing the procedure for retrieving valuables. "Though Mr. Brown perhaps deserves credit for his candor, his announced plan is grossly improper and manifestly unconstitutional," wrote Gluck, noting that Brown had previously conceded in court papers that some US Private Vaults customers were "honest citizens to whom the government wishes to return their property." "But the majority of the box holders are criminals who used USPV’s anonymity to hide their ill-gotten wealth," he wrote. "To distinguish between honest and criminal customers, the government must examine the specific facts of each box and each claim, precisely what the anonymous plaintiff wants to prevent by refusing to disclose not only his identity, but even the specific boxes he claims are his." Federal agents have seized evidence from U.S. Private Vaults, a Beverly Hills business that has been charged with three counts of conspiracy. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Beverly Hills attorney Nina Marino, who represents several US Private Vaults clients, said that even if there were some criminal customers, "that does not authorize the government’s conduct in this sweeping action of not only seizing innocent box owners’ property, but viewing that property." "Every single person that paid money on a monthly basis did that with the expectation of maintaining their anonymity, and it’s just outrageous that the government has such low regard for the 4th Amendment and for an individual’s expectation of privacy," she added. UCLA law professor Beth Colgan called the issue "fascinating," adding that the big question is whether the search warrant was based on sufficient probable cause to believe that evidence of criminal wrongdoing would be found in virtually all of the safe deposit boxes. "I would just be very surprised if a judge had approved a warrant that would allow the FBI to go through every single box absent evidence that the entire system was corrupt," said Colgan. "Maybe they have the evidence, and that’s the thing we don’t know."

1 4

Cypherpunks for open borders
by professor rat 03 Sep '22

03 Sep '22

This seems uncontroversial - open borders in the absence of a command economy and full-spectrum welfare ie national-healthcare-style state is decidedly pro-market, pro-freedom, and pro-peace. Certainly open-borders are as intrinsic to crypto-anarchism as diversity-of-tactics. That is certainly uncontroversial. It may be that some self-described cypherpunk might decide to advocate for border controls for some reason. The onus is then on them to prove their case. Such as in Jeff Berwick Vs John Galton However no crypto-anarchist will be caught dead arguing for nationalist borders; I promise youse.

4 3

John McAfee dead by suicide after extradition approved by Spanish court.
by jim bell 26 Aug '22

26 Aug '22

There is an "opportunity cost" to NOT implementing my 'Assassination Politics' 1995 invention. http://jya.com/ap.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost?wprov=sfla1 How many tech people have been victimized by government in ways that would never have occurred had an AP-type system been functioning? Edward Snowden. Ross Ulbricht. Now John McAfee. Phil Zimmermann, author of PGP-1, was harassed for a few years. Even, dare I say, myself. The Internet has greatly changed the world in the last 25 years because people implemented ideas that hardly existed 30 years ago. Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Google. Smartphones. TOR. Encrypted phones. Dark Markets. Why not AP? Why not implement the one thing that has a good chance of taking down every government on the face of the Earth? No wars, no militaries, no taxes, no governments. Are those goals any less important than any of the other advances technology has brought us? U.S. software mogul John McAfee dies by hanging in Spanish prison - lawyer says | | | | | | | | | | | U.S. software mogul John McAfee dies by hanging in Spanish prison - lawyer says U.S. technology entrepreneur John McAfee apparently hanged himself in his prison cell on Wednesday after the Spanish high court authorised his extradition to the United States, his lawyer told Reuters. | | | |

8 34

mind is quantum
by coderman 22 Jul '22

22 Jul '22

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind Quantum mind The quantum mind or quantum consciousness is a group of hypotheses proposing that [classical mechanics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mechanics) cannot explain [consciousness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness).[1](https://en.… It posits that [quantum-mechanical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanical) phenomena, such as [entanglement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement) and [superposition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_superposition), may play an important part in the brain's function and could explain consciousness. The hypotheses assert that consciousness is somehow quantum-mechanical and can overlap with [quantum mysticism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mysticism), a [pseudoscientific](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience) movement that assigns supernatural characteristics to various quantum phenomena such as [nonlocality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_nonlocality) and the [observer effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_effect_(physics)).[2](https:… Contents - [1 History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#History) - [2 Approaches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Approaches) - [2.1 Bohm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Bohm) - [2.2 Penrose and Hameroff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Penrose_and_Hameroff) - [2.3 Umezawa, Vitiello, Freeman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Umezawa,_Vitiello,_Free… - [2.4 Pribram, Bohm, Kak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Pribram,_Bohm,_Kak) - [2.5 Stapp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Stapp) - [2.6 David Pearce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#David_Pearce) - [3 Criticism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Criticism) - [3.1 Conceptual problems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Conceptual_problems) - [3.2 Practical problems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Practical_problems) - [3.3 Ethical problems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Ethical_problems) - [4 See also](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#See_also) - [5 References](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#References) - [6 Further reading](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Further_reading) - [7 External links](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#External_links) History [Eugene Wigner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Wigner) developed the idea that quantum mechanics has something to do with the workings of the mind. He proposed that the [wave function collapses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_function_collapse) due to its interaction with consciousness. [Freeman Dyson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson) argued that "mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent inherent in every electron".[3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-3) Other contemporary physicists and philosophers considered these arguments unconvincing.[4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-4) [Victor Stenger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Stenger) characterized quantum consciousness as a "myth" having "no scientific basis" that "should take its place along with gods, unicorns and dragons".[5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-5) [David Chalmers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Chalmers) argues against quantum consciousness. He instead discusses how [quantum mechanics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics) may relate to [dualistic consciousness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_dualism).[6]… Chalmers is skeptical that any new physics can resolve the [hard problem of consciousness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness)… Approaches Bohm [David Bohm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bohm) viewed [quantum theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics) and [relativity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity) as contradictory, which implied a more fundamental level in the universe.[9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Bohm1980-… He claimed that both quantum theory and relativity pointed to this deeper theory, which he formulated as a quantum field theory. This more fundamental level was proposed to represent an undivided wholeness and an [implicate order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicate_order), from which arises the [explicate order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explicate_order) of the universe as we experience it. Bohm's proposed order applies both to matter and consciousness. He suggested that it could explain the relationship between them. He saw mind and matter as projections into our explicate order from the underlying implicate order. Bohm claimed that when we look at matter, we see nothing that helps us to understand consciousness. Bohm discussed the experience of listening to music. He believed that the feeling of movement and change that make up our experience of music derive from holding the immediate past and the present in the brain together. The musical notes from the past are transformations rather than memories. The notes that were implicated in the immediate past become explicate in the present. Bohm viewed this as consciousness emerging from the implicate order. Bohm saw the movement, change or flow, and the coherence of experiences, such as listening to music, as a manifestation of the implicate order. He claimed to derive evidence for this from [Jean Piaget](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget)'s work on infants.[10](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Piaget195… He held these studies to show that young children learn about time and space because they have a "hard-wired" understanding of movement as part of the implicate order. He compared this hard-wiring to [Chomsky's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky) theory that grammar is hard-wired into human brains. Bohm never proposed a specific means by which his proposal could be falsified, nor a neural mechanism through which his "implicate order" could emerge in a way relevant to consciousness.[9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Bohm… He later collaborated on [Karl Pribram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_H._Pribram)'s [holonomic brain theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holonomic_brain_theory) as a model of quantum consciousness.[11](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-11) According to philosopher [Paavo Pylkkänen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paavo_Pylkk%C3%A4nen), Bohm's suggestion "leads naturally to the assumption that the physical correlate of the [logical thinking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_thinking) process is at the classically describable level of the brain, while the basic thinking process is at the quantum-theoretically describable level".[12](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-12) Penrose and Hameroff Main article: [Orchestrated objective reduction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestrated_objective_reduction) Theoretical physicist [Roger Penrose](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Penrose) and [anaesthesiologist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaesthesiologist) [Stuart Hameroff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hameroff) collaborated to produce the theory known as "[orchestrated objective reduction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestrated_objective_reduction)" (Orch-OR). Penrose and Hameroff initially developed their ideas separately and later collaborated to produce Orch-OR in the early 1990s. They reviewed and updated their theory in 2013.[13](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-13)[14](http… Penrose's argument stemmed from [Gödel's incompleteness theorems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theor…. In his first book on consciousness, [The Emperor's New Mind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Mind) (1989),[15](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Emperor-15) he argued that while a formal system cannot prove its own consistency, Gödel's unprovable results are provable by human mathematicians.[16](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Go… Penrose took this to mean that human mathematicians are not formal proof systems and not running a computable algorithm. According to Bringsjord and Xiao, this line of reasoning is based on fallacious [equivocation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivocation) on the meaning of computation.[17](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-17) In the same book, Penrose wrote: "One might speculate, however, that somewhere deep in the brain, cells are to be found of single quantum sensitivity. If this proves to be the case, then quantum mechanics will be significantly involved in brain activity."[15](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Emperor-15): 400 Penrose determined that [wave function collapse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_function_collapse) was the only possible physical basis for a non-computable process. Dissatisfied with its randomness, he proposed a new form of wave function collapse that occurs in isolation and called it objective reduction. He suggested each quantum superposition has its own piece of spacetime curvature and that when these become separated by more than one [Planck length](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_length), they become unstable and collapse.[18](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-emperorn… Penrose suggested that objective reduction represents neither randomness nor algorithmic processing but instead a non-computable influence in [spacetime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacetime) geometry from which mathematical understanding and, by later extension, consciousness derives.[18](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-emperorne… Hameroff provided a hypothesis that [microtubules](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microtubule) would be suitable hosts for quantum behavior.[19](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-19) Microtubules are composed of [tubulin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tubulin) [protein dimer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_dimer) subunits. The dimers each have [hydrophobic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophobic) pockets that are 8 nm apart and may contain delocalized [π electrons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0_electrons). Tubulins have other smaller non-polar regions that contain π-electron-rich [indole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indole) rings separated by about 2 nm. Hameroff proposed that these electrons are close enough to become entangled.[20](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Hamerof… He originally suggested that the tubulin-subunit electrons would form a [Bose–Einstein condensate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Einstein_condensate), but this was discredited.[21](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Penro… He then proposed a Frohlich condensate, a hypothetical coherent oscillation of dipolar molecules, but this too was experimentally discredited.[22](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-22) Orch-OR has made numerous false biological predictions and is not an accepted model of brain physiology.[23](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-23) In other words, there is a missing link between physics and neuroscience.[24](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-24) For instance, the proposed predominance of A-lattice microtubules, more suitable for information processing, was falsified by Kikkawa et al.,[25](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Kikkawa1994-2… who showed that all in vivo microtubules have a B lattice and a seam. The proposed existence of gap junctions between neurons and [glial cells](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroglia) was also falsified.[27](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Binmoll… Orch-OR predicted that microtubule coherence reaches the synapses through dendritic lamellar bodies (DLBs), but De Zeeuw et al. proved this impossible[28](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-DeZeeuw… by showing that DLBs are micrometers away from gap junctions.[29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-29) In 2014, Hameroff and Penrose claimed that the discovery of quantum vibrations in microtubules by Anirban Bandyopadhyay of the [National Institute for Materials Science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_for_Materials_Sci… in Japan in March 2013[30](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-30) corroborates Orch-OR theory.[14](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-elsevier-1… Although these theories are stated in a scientific framework, it is difficult to separate them from scientists' personal opinions. The opinions are often based on intuition or subjective ideas about the nature of consciousness. For example, Penrose wrote:[32](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-32) > [M]y own point of view asserts that you can't even simulate conscious activity. What's going on in conscious thinking is something you couldn't properly imitate at all by computer.... If something behaves as though it's conscious, do you say it is conscious? People argue endlessly about that. Some people would say, "Well, you've got to take the operational viewpoint; we don't know what consciousness is. How do you judge whether a person is conscious or not? Only by the way they act. You apply the same criterion to a computer or a computer-controlled robot." Other people would say, "No, you can't say it feels something merely because it behaves as though it feels something." My view is different from both those views. The robot wouldn't even behave convincingly as though it was conscious unless it really was—which I say it couldn't be, if it's entirely computationally controlled. Penrose continues:[33](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Penrose… > A lot of what the brain does you could do on a computer. I'm not saying that all the brain's action is completely different from what you do on a computer. I am claiming that the actions of consciousness are something different. I'm not saying that consciousness is beyond physics, either—although I'm saying that it's beyond the physics we know now.... My claim is that there has to be something in physics that we don't yet understand, which is very important, and which is of a noncomputational character. It's not specific to our brains; it's out there, in the physical world. But it usually plays a totally insignificant role. It would have to be in the bridge between quantum and classical levels of behavior—that is, where quantum measurement comes in. [W. Daniel Hillis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Daniel_Hillis) responded: "Penrose has committed the classical mistake of putting humans at the center of the universe. His argument is essentially that he can't imagine how the mind could be as complicated as it is without having some magic elixir brought in from some new principle of physics, so therefore it must involve that. It's a failure of Penrose's imagination.... It's true that there are unexplainable, uncomputable things, but there's no reason whatsoever to believe that the complex behavior we see in humans is in any way related to uncomputable, unexplainable things."[33](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Penroseedge-33) Lawrence Krauss is also blunt in criticizing Penrose's ideas. He has said: "Roger Penrose has given lots of new-age crackpots ammunition by suggesting that at some fundamental scale, quantum mechanics might be relevant for consciousness. When you hear the term 'quantum consciousness', you should be suspicious.... Many people are dubious that Penrose's suggestions are reasonable, because the brain is not an isolated quantum-mechanical system."[2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Krauss-2) Umezawa, Vitiello, Freeman [Hiroomi Umezawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroomi_Umezawa) and collaborators proposed a quantum field theory of memory storage.[34](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-34)[35](h… Giuseppe Vitiello and [Walter Freeman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Jackson_Freeman_III) proposed a dialog model of the mind. This dialog takes place between the classical and the quantum parts of the brain.[36](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-36)[37](htt… Their quantum field theory models of [brain dynamics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_brain_dynamics) are fundamentally different from the Penrose–Hameroff theory. Pribram, Bohm, Kak [Karl Pribram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_H._Pribram)'s [holonomic brain theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holonomic_brain_theory) (quantum holography) invoked quantum mechanics to explain higher-order processing by the mind.[39](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-39)[40](http… He argued that his holonomic model solved the [binding problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_problem).[41](https://en.wik… Pribram collaborated with Bohm in his work on quantum approaches to mind and he provided evidence on how much of the processing in the brain was done in wholes.[42](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-42) He proposed that ordered water at [dendritic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrite) membrane surfaces might operate by structuring Bose–Einstein condensation supporting quantum dynamics.[43](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-43) Stapp [Henry Stapp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Stapp) proposed that quantum waves are reduced only when they interact with consciousness. He argues from the orthodox quantum mechanics of [John von Neumann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann)[[clarify](https://…] that the quantum state collapses when the observer selects one among the alternative quantum possibilities as a basis for future action. The collapse, therefore, takes place in the expectation that the observer associated with the state. Stapp's work drew criticism from scientists such as David Bourget and Danko Georgiev.[44](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Bourget-… Georgiev[45](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Georgiev2… criticized Stapp's model in two respects: - Stapp's mind does not have its own [wavefunction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavefunction) or [density matrix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density_matrix), but nevertheless can act upon the brain using [projection operators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projection_(linear_algebra)). Such usage is not compatible with standard quantum mechanics because one can attach any number of ghostly minds to any point in space that act upon physical quantum systems with any projection operators. Stapp's model therefore negates "the prevailing principles of physics".[45](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Georgiev2012-45) - Stapp's claim that [quantum Zeno effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Zeno_effect) is robust against environmental decoherence directly contradicts a basic theorem in [quantum information theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_information_theory): that acting with projection operators upon the density matrix of a quantum system can only increase the system's [von Neumann entropy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_entropy).[45](https://en… Stapp has responded to both of Georgiev's objections.[[specify](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_source… David Pearce British philosopher [David Pearce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pearce_(philosopher)) defends what he calls physicalistic idealism ("the non-materialist physicalist claim that reality is fundamentally experiential and that the natural world is exhaustively described by the equations of physics and their solutions") and has conjectured that unitary conscious minds are physical states of [quantum coherence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_coherence) (neuronal superpositions).[50](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-5…) This conjecture is, according to Pearce, amenable to falsification, unlike most theories of consciousness, and Pearce has outlined an experimental protocol describing how the hypothesis could be tested using [matter-wave interferometry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferometry) to detect [nonclassical interference patterns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_interference) of [neuronal superpositions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_superposition) at the onset of [thermal decoherence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_decoherence).[54](https:… Pearce admits that his ideas are "highly speculative", "counterintuitive", and "incredible".[52](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Pearcevideo-52) Criticism These hypotheses of the quantum mind remain hypothetical speculation, as Penrose and Pearce admit in their discussions. Until they make a prediction that is tested by experimentation, the hypotheses aren't based on empirical evidence. According to Krauss, "It is true that quantum mechanics is extremely strange, and on extremely small scales for short times, all sorts of weird things happen. And in fact, we can make weird quantum phenomena happen. But what quantum mechanics doesn't change about the universe is, if you want to change things, you still have to do something. You can't change the world by thinking about it."[2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Krauss-2) The process of testing the hypotheses with experiments is fraught with conceptual/theoretical, practical, and ethical problems. Conceptual problems The idea that a quantum effect is necessary for consciousness to function is still in the realm of philosophy. Penrose proposes that it is necessary, but other theories of consciousness do not indicate that it is needed. For example, [Daniel Dennett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Dennett) proposed a theory called [multiple drafts model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_drafts_model), which doesn't indicate that quantum effects are needed, in his 1991 book [Consciousness Explained](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness_Explained).[55](http… A philosophical argument on either side isn't scientific proof, although philosophical analysis can indicate key differences in the types of models and show what type of experimental differences might be observed. But since there isn't a clear consensus among philosophers, it isn't conceptual support that a quantum mind theory is needed. There are computers that are specifically designed to compute using quantum-mechanical effects. [Quantum computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_computing) is [computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computation) using [quantum-mechanical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics) [phenomena](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomena), such as [superposition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_superposition) and [entanglement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement).[56](http… They are different from [binary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_number) [digital electronic computers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_electronic_computer) based on [transistors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor). Whereas common digital computing requires that the data be encoded into binary digits ([bits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit)) each of which is always in one of two definite states (0 or 1), quantum computation uses [quantum bits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qubit), which can be in [superpositions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_superposition) of states. One of the greatest challenges is controlling or removing [quantum decoherence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_decoherence). This usually means isolating the system from its environment, as interactions with the external world cause the system to decohere. Some quantum computers require their qubits to be cooled to 20 millikelvins in order to prevent significant decoherence.[57](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-57) As a result, time-consuming tasks may render some quantum algorithms inoperable, as maintaining the state of qubits long enough eventually corrupts the superpositions.[58](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-58) There aren't any obvious analogies between the functioning of quantum computers and the human brain. Some hypothetical models of quantum mind have proposed mechanisms for maintaining quantum coherence in the brain, but they have not been shown to operate. [Quantum entanglement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement) is a physical phenomenon often invoked for quantum mind models. This effect occurs when pairs or groups of [particles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle) interact so that the [quantum state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_state) of each particle cannot be described independently of the other(s), even when the particles are separated by a large distance. Instead, a quantum state has to be described for the whole system. [Measurements](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement#Quantum_mechanics) of physical properties such as [position](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Position_(vector)), [momentum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momentum), [spin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(physics)), and [polarization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarization_(waves)), performed on entangled particles are found to be [correlated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation). If one particle is measured, the same property of the other particle immediately adjusts to maintain the conservation of the physical phenomenon. According to the formalism of quantum theory, the effect of measurement happens instantly, no matter how far apart the particles are.[59](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-59)[60](https… It is not possible to use this effect to transmit classical information at faster-than-light speeds[61](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-61) (see [Faster-than-light § Quantum mechanics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-light#Quantum_mechanic…) Entanglement is broken when the entangled particles [decohere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_decoherence) through interaction with the environment—for example, when a measurement is made[62](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Peres1993-62) or the particles undergo random collisions or interactions. According to Pearce, "In neuronal networks, ion–ion scattering, ion–water collisions, and long-range Coulomb interactions from nearby ions all contribute to rapid decoherence times; but thermally induced decoherence is even harder experimentally to control than collisional decoherence." He anticipated that quantum effects would have to be measured in femtoseconds, a trillion times faster than the rate at which neurons function (milliseconds).[54](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Pea…) Another possible conceptual approach is to use quantum mechanics as an analogy to understand a different field of study like consciousness, without expecting that the laws of quantum physics will apply. An example of this approach is the idea of [Schrödinger's cat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat). [Erwin Schrödinger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Schr%C3%B6dinger) described how one could, in principle, create entanglement of a large-scale system by making it dependent on an elementary particle in a superposition. He proposed a scenario with a cat in a locked steel chamber, wherein the cat's survival depended on the state of a [radioactive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay) atom—whether it had decayed and emitted radiation. According to Schrödinger, the Copenhagen interpretation implies that the cat is both alive and dead until the state has been observed. Schrödinger did not wish to promote the idea of dead-and-alive cats as a serious possibility; he intended the example to illustrate the absurdity of the existing view of quantum mechanics.[63](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Schrodi… But since Schrödinger's time, physicists have given other [interpretations of the mathematics of quantum mechanics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretations_of_quantum_mechani…, some of which regard the "alive and dead" cat superposition as quite real.[64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Polkinghorne… Schrödinger's famous [thought experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_experiment) poses the question, "when does a quantum system stop existing as a superposition of states and become one or the other?" In the same way, one can ask whether the act of making a decision is analogous to having a superposition of states of two decision outcomes, so that making a decision means "opening the box" to reduce the brain from a combination of states to one state. This analogy about decision-making uses a formalism derived from quantum mechanics, but doesn't indicate the actual mechanism by which the decision is made. In this way, the idea is similar to [quantum cognition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_cognition). This field clearly distinguishes itself from the quantum mind, as it is not reliant on the hypothesis that there is something micro-physical quantum-mechanical about the brain. Quantum cognition is based on the quantum-like paradigm,[66](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-66)[67](… generalized quantum paradigm,[68](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-68) or quantum structure paradigm[69](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-69) that information processing by complex systems such as the brain can be mathematically described in the framework of quantum information and quantum probability theory. This model uses quantum mechanics only as an analogy, but doesn't propose that quantum mechanics is the physical mechanism by which it operates. For example, quantum cognition proposes that some decisions can be analyzed as if there is interference between two alternatives, but it is not a physical quantum interference effect. Practical problems The demonstration of a quantum-mind effect by experiment is necessary. Is there a way to show that consciousness is impossible without a quantum effect? Can a sufficiently complex digital, non-quantum computer be shown to be incapable of consciousness? Perhaps a quantum computer will show that quantum effects are needed. In any case, complex computers that are either digital or quantum computers may be built. These could demonstrate which type of computer is capable of conscious, intentional thought. But they don't exist yet, and no experimental test has been demonstrated. Quantum mechanics is a mathematical model that can provide some extremely accurate numerical predictions. [Richard Feynman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman) called quantum electrodynamics, based on the quantum-mechanics formalism, "the jewel of physics" for its [extremely accurate predictions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_tests_of_QED) of quantities like the [anomalous magnetic moment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomalous_magnetic_moment) of the electron and the [Lamb shift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_shift) of the [energy levels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_level) of [hydrogen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen).[70](https://en.wikipedia…: Ch. 1 So it is not impossible that the model could provide an accurate prediction about consciousness that would confirm that a quantum effect is involved. If the mind depends on quantum mechanical effects, the true proof is to find an experiment that provides a calculation that can be compared to experimental measurement. It has to show a measurable difference between a classical computation result in a brain and one that involves quantum effects. The main theoretical argument against the quantum-mind hypothesis is the assertion that quantum states in the brain would lose coherency before they reached a scale where they could be useful for neural processing. This supposition was elaborated by [Max Tegmark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Tegmark). His calculations indicate that quantum systems in the brain decohere at sub-picosecond timescales.[71](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Tegmar… No response by a brain has shown computational results or reactions on this fast of a timescale. Typical reactions are on the order of milliseconds, trillions of times longer than sub-picosecond timescales.[73](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-73) Daniel Dennett uses an experimental result in support of his [multiple drafts model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_drafts_model) of [an optical illusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_phi_phenomenon) that happens on a time scale of less than a second or so. In this experiment, two different-colored lights, with an angular separation of a few degrees at the eye, are flashed in succession. If the interval between the flashes is less than a second or so, the first light that is flashed appears to move across to the position of the second light. Furthermore, the light seems to change color as it moves across the visual field. A green light will appear to turn red as it seems to move across to the position of a red light. Dennett asks how we could see the light change color before the second light is observed.[55](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-dennett1… Velmans argues that the [cutaneous rabbit illusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutaneous_rabbit_illusion), another illusion that happens in about a second, demonstrates that there is a delay while modelling occurs in the brain and that this delay was discovered by [Libet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Libet).[74](https://en.wikipe… These slow illusions that happen at times of less than a second don't support a proposal that the brain functions on the picosecond time scale. According to David Pearce, a demonstration of picosecond effects is "the fiendishly hard part – feasible in principle, but an experimental challenge still beyond the reach of contemporary molecular matter-wave interferometry. [...] The conjecture predicts that we'll discover the interference signature of sub-femtosecond macro-superpositions."[54](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Pearce-54) Penrose says:[33](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Penroseedge-… > The problem with trying to use quantum mechanics in the action of the brain is that if it were a matter of quantum nerve signals, these nerve signals would disturb the rest of the material in the brain, to the extent that the quantum coherence would get lost very quickly. You couldn't even attempt to build a quantum computer out of ordinary nerve signals, because they're just too big and in an environment that's too disorganized. Ordinary nerve signals have to be treated classically. But if you go down to the level of the microtubules, then there's an extremely good chance that you can get quantum-level activity inside them. > > For my picture, I need this quantum-level activity in the microtubules; the activity has to be a large-scale thing that goes not just from one microtubule to the next but from one nerve cell to the next, across large areas of the brain. We need some kind of coherent activity of a quantum nature which is weakly coupled to the computational activity that Hameroff argues is taking place along the microtubules. > > There are various avenues of attack. One is directly on the physics, on quantum theory, and there are certain experiments that people are beginning to perform, and various schemes for a modification of quantum mechanics. I don't think the experiments are sensitive enough yet to test many of these specific ideas. One could imagine experiments that might test these things, but they'd be very hard to perform. A demonstration of a quantum effect in the brain has to explain this problem or explain why it is not relevant, or that the brain somehow circumvents the problem of the loss of quantum coherency at body temperature. As Penrose proposes, it may require a new type of physical theory. Ethical problems According to Lawrence Krauss, "You should be wary whenever you hear something like 'Quantum mechanics connects you with the universe' ... or 'quantum mechanics unifies you with everything else'. You can begin to be skeptical that the speaker is somehow trying to use quantum mechanics to argue fundamentally that you can change the world by thinking about it."[2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Krauss-2) A subjective feeling is not sufficient to make this determination. Humans don't have a reliable subjective feeling for how we do a lot of functions. According to Daniel Dennett, "On this topic, Everybody's an expert... but they think that they have a particular personal authority about the nature of their own conscious experiences that can trump any hypothesis they find unacceptable."[75](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-75) Since humans are the only animals that can verbally communicate their conscious experience, performing experiments to demonstrate quantum effects in consciousness requires experimentation on a living human brain.[[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)] This is not automatically excluded or impossible, but it seriously limits the kinds of experiments that can be done. Studies of the ethics of brain studies are being actively solicited[76](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-76) by the [BRAIN Initiative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAIN_Initiative), a U.S. Federal Government funded effort to document the connections of neurons in the brain. An ethically objectionable practice by proponents of quantum mind theories involves the practice of using quantum-mechanical terms in an effort to make the argument sound more impressive, even when they know that those terms are irrelevant. Dale DeBakcsy notes that "trendy parapsychologists, academic relativists, and even the [Dalai Lama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama) have all taken their turn at robbing modern physics of a few well-sounding phrases and stretching them far beyond their original scope in order to add scientific weight to various pet theories".[77](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-77) At the very least, these proponents must make a clear statement about whether quantum formalism is being used as an analogy or as an actual physical mechanism, and what evidence they are using for support. An ethical statement by a researcher should specify what kind of relationship their hypothesis has to the physical laws. Misleading statements of this type have been given by, for example, [Deepak Chopra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepak_Chopra). Chopra has commonly referred to topics such as [quantum healing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_healing) or quantum effects of consciousness. Seeing the human body as being undergirded by a "quantum-mechanical body" composed not of matter but of energy and information, he believes that "human aging is fluid and changeable; it can speed up, slow down, stop for a time, and even reverse itself", as determined by one's state of mind.[78](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-ageless-78) [Robert Carroll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Todd_Carroll) states that Chopra attempts to integrate [Ayurveda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda) with quantum mechanics to justify his teachings.[79](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-skepdic… Chopra argues that what he calls "quantum healing" cures any manner of ailments, including cancer, through effects that he claims are literally based on the same principles as quantum mechanics.[80](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-AshmanB… This has led physicists to object to his use of the term quantum in reference to medical conditions and the human body.[80](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-AshmanBarrin… Chopra said: "I think quantum theory has a lot of things to say about the [observer effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_effect_(physics)), about non-locality, about correlations. So I think there’s a school of physicists who believe that consciousness has to be equated, or at least brought into the equation, in understanding quantum mechanics."[81](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-dawkins1-81) On the other hand, he also claims that "[quantum effects are] just a metaphor. Just like an electron or a photon is an indivisible unit of information and energy, a thought is an indivisible unit of consciousness."[81](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-dawkins1-81) In his book Quantum Healing, Chopra stated the conclusion that [quantum entanglement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement) links everything in the Universe, and therefore it must create consciousness.[82](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-dne… In either case, the references to the word "quantum" don't mean what a physicist would claim, and arguments that use the word "quantum" shouldn't be taken as scientifically proven. Chris Carter includes statements in his book Science and Psychic Phenomena[83](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-83) of quotes from quantum physicists in support of psychic phenomena. In a review of the book, Benjamin Radford wrote that Carter used such references to "quantum physics, which he knows nothing about and which he (and people like Deepak Chopra) love to cite and reference because it sounds mysterious and paranormal.... Real, actual physicists I've spoken to break out laughing at this crap.... If Carter wishes to posit that quantum physics provides a plausible mechanism for psi, then it is his responsibility to show that, and he clearly fails to do so."[84](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-84) Sharon Hill has studied amateur paranormal research groups, and these groups like to use "vague and confusing language: ghosts 'use energy', are made up of 'magnetic fields', or are associated with a 'quantum state'".[85](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-85)[86](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-86) Statements like these about quantum mechanics indicate a temptation to misinterpret technical, mathematical terms like entanglement in terms of mystical feelings. This approach can be interpreted as a kind of [scientism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientism), using the language and authority of science when the scientific concepts don't apply. Perhaps the final question is, what difference does it make if quantum effects are involved in computations in the brain? It is already known that quantum mechanics plays a role in the brain since quantum mechanics determines the shapes and properties of molecules like [neurotransmitters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotransmitters) and [proteins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteins), and these molecules affect how the brain works. This is the reason that drugs such as [morphine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphine) affect consciousness. As Daniel Dennett said, "quantum effects are there in your car, your watch, and your computer. But most things — most macroscopic objects — are, as it were, oblivious to quantum effects. They don't amplify them; they don't hinge on them."[33](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Penroseedge-33) Lawrence Krauss said: "We're also connected to the universe by gravity, and we're connected to the planets by gravity. But that doesn't mean that astrology is true.... Often, people who are trying to sell whatever it is they're trying to sell try to justify it on the basis of science. Everyone knows quantum mechanics is weird, so why not use that to justify it? ... I don't know how many times I've heard people say, 'Oh, I love quantum mechanics because I'm really into meditation, or I love the spiritual benefits that it brings me.' But quantum mechanics, for better or worse, doesn't bring any more spiritual benefits than gravity does."[2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#cite_note-Krauss-2) See also - [Artificial consciousness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_consciousness) - [Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohm_interpretation) - [Coincidence detection in neurobiology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coincidence_detection_in_neurob… - [Electromagnetic theories of consciousness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theories_of_co… - [Evolutionary neuroscience](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_neuroscience) - [Many-minds interpretation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-minds_interpretation) - [Hameroff-Penrose Orchestrated Objective Reduction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orch-OR) - [Hard problem of consciousness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness) - [Holonomic brain theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holonomic_brain_theory) - [Mechanism (philosophy)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanism_(philosophy)) - [Quantum cognition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_cognition) - [Quantum neural network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_neural_network) References - - ["Quantum Approaches to Consciousness"](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-consciousness/). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. May 19, 2011 [First published Tue Nov 30, 2004]. - - Boyle, Alan. ["How to Spot Quantum Quackery"](https://www.nbcnews.com/science/how-spot-quantum-quackery-6c10403763). NBC News Science News. Retrieved 8 Mar 2018. - - [Dyson, Freeman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson) (2004). Infinite in All Directions: Gifford Lectures Given at Aberdeen, Scotland April–November 1985 (1st Perennial ed.). New York: Perennial. p. 297. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0060728892](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0060728892). - - [Searle, John R.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Searle) (1997). [The Mystery of Consciousness](https://archive.org/details/mysteryconscious00sear) (1st ed.). New York: New York Review of Books. pp. [53](https://archive.org/details/mysteryconscious00sear/page/n69)–88. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780940322066](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780940322…. - - [Stenger, Victor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_J_Stenger). [The Myth of Quantum Consciousness](http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Quantum/QuantumC… (PDF). The Humanist. 53, No. 3 (May–June 1992). pp. 13–15. - - Stephen P. Stich; Ted A. Warfield (15 April 2008). [The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Mind](https://books.google.com/books?id=NEGK_ZStddkC&q=dualistic+consciousn…. Blackwell Philosophy Guides. John Wiley & Sons. p. 126. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780470998755](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780470998…. - - [David J. Chalmers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Chalmers) (1995). ["Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness"](http://consc.net/papers/facing.html). Journal of Consciousness Studies. 2 (3): 200–219. - - Chalmers, David J. (1997). The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory (Paperback ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-511789-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-…. - - [Bohm, David](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bohm) (2002). Wholeness and the Implicate Order (Online-Ausg. ed.). Hoboken: Routledge. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0203995155](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0203995155). - - Piaget, Jean (1997). Jean Piaget: selected works. (The Origin of Intelligence in the Child) (Repr. ed.). London: Routledge. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780415168861](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780415168…. - - Wade, Jenny (1996). Changes of Mind: A Holonomic Theory of the Evolution of Consciousness. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780791428498](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780791428…. - - Paavo Pylkkänen. ["Can quantum analogies help us to understand the process of thought?"](http://philpapers.org/archive/PYLCQA.1.pdf) (PDF). Mind & Matter. 12 (1): 61–91 [75]. - - ["Discovery of quantum vibrations in 'microtubules' inside brain neurons supports controversial theory of consciousness"](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140116085105.htm). ScienceDaily. 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2017-12-28. - - ["Discovery of Quantum Vibrations in "Microtubules" Inside Brain Neurons Corroborates Controversial 20-Year-Old Theory of Consciousness"](http://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/research-and-journals/discovery-of-quantum-vibrations-in-microtubules-inside-brain-neurons-corroborates-controversial-20-year-old-theory-of-consciousness). Elsevier. 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2017-12-28. - - Penrose, Roger (1989). [The Emperor's New Mind](https://archive.org/details/emperorsnewmind00roge). New York, NY: Penguin Books. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-14-01-4534-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-01-4…. - - Gödel, Kurt (1992). On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems (Reprint ed.). New York: Dover Publications. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0486669807](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0486669807). - - Bringsjord, S. and Xiao, H. 2000. [A Refutation of Penrose's Gödelian Case Against Artificial Intelligence](http://kryten.mm.rpi.edu/refute.penrose.pdf). [Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Experimental_and_The…. - - Penrose, Roger (1999). [The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics](https://archive.org/details/emperorsnewmindc1999penr) (New ed.). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0192861980](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0192861980). - - Penrose, Roger (1995). [Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness](https://archive.org/details/shadowsofmindsea00penr_0) (Repr. (with corrections) ed.). Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0198539789](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0198539789). - - [Hameroff, Stuart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hameroff) (2008). ["That's life! The geometry of π electron resonance clouds"](http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/documents/Hameroff_received-1-05-07.pdf) (PDF). In Abbott, D.; Davies, P.; Pati, A. (eds.). Quantum aspects of life. World Scientific. pp. 403–434. Retrieved Jan 21, 2010. - - Roger Penrose & Stuart Hameroff (2011). ["Consciousness in the Universe: Neuroscience, Quantum Space-Time Geometry and Orch OR Theory"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140207124412/http://journalofcosmology.com/Consciousness160.html). Journal of Cosmology. 14. Archived from [the original](http://journalofcosmology.com/Consciousness160.html) on February 7, 2014. - - Reimers, Jeffrey R.; McKemmish, Laura K.; McKenzie, Ross H.; Mark, Alan E.; Hush, Noel S. (17 March 2009). ["Weak, strong, and coherent regimes of Fröhlich condensation and their applications to terahertz medicine and quantum consciousness"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2657444). PNAS. 106 (11): 4219–4224. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2009PNAS..106…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1073/pnas.08062731…. [PMC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMC_(identifier)) [2657444](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2657444). [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [19251667](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19251667). - - Khoshbin-e-Khoshnazar M. R. (2007). "Achilles' Heels of the 'Orch OR' Model". NeuroQuantology. 5 (1): 182–185. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.14704/nq.2007.5.1.…. - - Maurits van den Noort, Sabina Lim, Peggy Bosch (2016-10-28). ["Towards a theory of everything: The observer's unconscious brain"](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F538036a). Nature. 538 (7623): 36–37. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2016Natur.538…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/538036a](http…. - - Kikkawa, M., Ishikawa, T., Nakata, T., Wakabayashi, T., Hirokawa, N. (1994). ["Direct visualization of the microtubule lattice seam both in vitro and in vivo"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2120284). Journal of Cell Biology. 127 (6): 1965–1971. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1083/jcb.127.6.196…. [PMC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMC_(identifier)) [2120284](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2120284). [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [7806574](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7806574). - - Kikkawa, M., Metlagel, Z. (2006). ["A molecular 'zipper' for microtubules"](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.cell.2006.12.009). Cell. 127 (7): 1302–1304. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.cell.2006.1…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [17190594](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17190594). [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [31980600](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:31980600). - - F. J. Binmöller & C. M. Müller (1992). "Postnatal development of dye-coupling among astrocytes in rat visual cortex". Glia. 6 (2): 127–137. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1002/glia.44006020…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [1328051](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1328051). [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [548862](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:548862). - - De Zeeuw, C. I., Hertzberg, E. L., Mugnaini, E. (1995). ["The dendritic lamellar body: A new neuronal organelle putatively associated with dendrodentritic gap junctions"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6577840). Journal of Neuroscience. 15 (2): 1587–1604. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1523/JNEUROSCI.15-…. [PMC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMC_(identifier)) [6577840](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6577840). [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [7869120](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7869120). - - Hameroff S. (2013-08-12). "Consciousness, the brain, and spacetime geometry". Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 929 (1): 74–104. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2001NYASA.929…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1749-6632.2…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [11349432](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11349432). [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [12399940](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:12399940). - - Sahu S., Ghosh S., Ghosh B., Aswani K., Hirata K., Fujita D., Bandyopadhyay A. (2014-05-14). ["Atomic water channel controlling remarkable properties of a single brain microtubule: correlating single protein to its supramolecular assembly"](https://zenodo.org/record/889377). Biosens Bioelectron. 47: 141–148. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.bios.2013.0…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [23567633](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23567633). - - Osborne, Hannah (2014-01-16). ["Quantum Vibrations in Brain Opens 'Pandora's Box' of Theories of Consciousness"](https://uk.news.yahoo.com/quantum-vibrations-brain-opens-39-pandora-39-box-160301481.html). Yahoo News UK. Retrieved 2014-08-04. - - Daniel, Dennett. ["Edge Conversation Chapter 10: Intuition Pumps, and response by Roger Penrose"](https://www.edge.org/conversation/daniel_c_dennett-chapter-10-intuition-pumps). Edge.com. Retrieved 20 Feb 2018. - - Penrose, Roger. ["Edge Conversation Chapter 14: Consciousness Involves Noncomputable Ingredients"](https://www.edge.org/conversation/roger_penrose-chapter-14-consciousness-involves-noncomputable-ingredients). Edge.com. Retrieved 20 Feb 2018. - - Ricciardi L. M.; Umezawa H. (1967). "Brain physics and many-body problems". Kibernetik. 4 (2): 44–48. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/BF00292170](h…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [5617419](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5617419). [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [29289582](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:29289582). - - Ricciardi L. M.; Umezawa H. (2004) [1967]. Gordon G. G.; Pribram K. H.; Vitiello G. (eds.). "Brain physics and many-body problems". Brain and Being. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publ Co.: 255–266. - - G. Vitiello, My Double Unveiled. John Benjamins, 2001. - - Freeman W.; Vitiello G. (2006). "Nonlinear brain dynamics as macroscopic manifestation of underlying many-body dynamics". Physics of Life Reviews. 3 (2): 93–118. [arXiv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)):[q-bio/0511037](ht…. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2006PhLRv...3…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.plrev.2006.…. [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [11011930](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:11011930). - - Atmanspacher H. (2006), ["Quantum Approaches to Consciousness"](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-consciousness), Quantum Approaches to Consciousness. A critical survey article in Stanford Univ. Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University - - Pribram K. H. (1999). "Quantum holography: Is it relevant to brain function?". Information Sciences. 115 (1–4): 97–102. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/s0020-0255(98…. - - Pribram K. H. (2004). "Consciousness Reassessed". Mind and Matter. 2: 7–35. - - Pribram, K. (1999) Status Report: Quantum Holography and the Braln. Acta Polyiechnica Scandinavica: Emergence Complexity, Hierarchy, Organization, Vol. 2, pp. 33–60. - - Pribram, K. H. Holography, holonomy and brain function. Elsevier's Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, 1999. - - Jibu M.; Pribrm K. H.; Yasue K. (1996). "From conscious experience to memory storage and retrieval: The role of quantum brain dynamics and boson condensation of evanescent photons". International Journal of Modern Physics B. 10 (13n14): 1735–1754. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1996IJMPB..10…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1142/s021797929600…. - - Bourget, D. (2004). "Quantum Leaps in Philosophy of Mind: A Critique of Stapp's Theory". [Journal of Consciousness Studies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Consciousness_Studies). 11 (12): 17–42. - - Georgiev, D. (2012). "Mind efforts, quantum Zeno effect and environmental decoherence". [NeuroQuantology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeuroQuantology). 10 (3): 374–388. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.14704/nq.2012.10.3…. - - Georgiev, D. (2015). "Monte Carlo simulation of quantum Zeno effect in the brain". [International Journal of Modern Physics B](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Journal_of_Modern_Physics_B). 29 (7): 1550039. [arXiv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)):[1412.4741](https:…. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2015IJMPB..29…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1142/S021797921550…. [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [118390522](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:118390522). - - Georgiev, Danko D. (2017). [Quantum Information and Consciousness: A Gentle Introduction](https://books.google.com/books?id=OtRBDwAAQBAJ). Boca Raton: CRC Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781138104488](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781138104…. [OCLC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)) [1003273264](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1003273264). - - Henry P. Stapp (December 2012). ["Reply to a Critic: 'Mind Efforts, Quantum Zeno Effect and Environmental Decoherence'"](https://web.archive.org/web/20181106202859/https://www.neuroquantology.com/index.php/journal/article/viewFile/619/548). NeuroQuantology. 10 (4): 601–605. Archived from [the original](https://www.neuroquantology.com/index.php/journal/article/viewFil… on 2018-11-06. - - Stapp, Henry (2015). "Reply to Georgiev: No-Go for Georgiev's No-Go Theorem". NeuroQuantology. 13 (2). [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.14704/nq.2015.13.2…. - - Pearce, David. ["Non-Materialist Physicalism: An experimentally testable conjecture"](https://www.physicalism.com). Retrieved 15 Feb 2018. - - Pearce, David. ["Quantum computing: the first 540 million years: Abstract of talk given at Tucson conference 'Toward a Science of Consciousness' (2010)"](https://www.hedweb.com/philsoph/quantum-computer.html). Retrieved 18 Feb 2018. - - Pearce, David. ["The Binding Problem of Consciousness"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xizbtklciA). YouTube.com. - - Pearce, David. ["Schrödinger's Neurons: David Pearce at the '2016 Science of Consciousness' conference in Tucson"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6j1pHiEA4). YouTube.com. Retrieved 18 Feb 2018. - - Pearce, David. ["Non-Materialist Physicalism: An experimentally testable conjecture, Section 6"](https://www.physicalism.com/#6). Retrieved 15 Feb 2018. - - Dennett, Daniel, C. (1991). Consciousness Explained. Little, Brown & Co. - - [Gershenfeld, Neil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gershenfeld); [Chuang, Isaac L.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_L._Chuang) (June 1998). ["Quantum Computing with Molecules"](http://cba.mit.edu/docs/papers/98.06.sciqc.pdf) (PDF). [Scientific American](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_American). 278 (6): 66–71. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1998SciAm.278…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/scientificame…. - - Jones, Nicola (19 June 2013). ["Computing: The quantum company"](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F498286a). Nature. 498 (7454): 286–288. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2013Natur.498…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/498286a](http…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [23783610](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23783610). - - Amy, Matthew; Matteo, Olivia; Gheorghiu, Vlad; Mosca, Michele; Parent, Alex; Schanck, John (November 30, 2016). "Estimating the cost of generic quantum pre-image attacks on SHA-2 and SHA-3". [arXiv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)):[1603.09383](https… [[quant-ph](https://arxiv.org/archive/quant-ph)] - - Matson, John (13 August 2012). ["Quantum teleportation achieved over record distances"](http://www.nature.com/news/quantum-teleportation-achieved-over-record-distances-1.11163). Nature. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/nature.2012.1…. [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [124852641](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:124852641). - - Griffiths, David J. (2004), Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (2nd ed.), Prentice Hall, [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-13-111892-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-13-11189…. - - [Roger Penrose](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Penrose), The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe, London, 2004, p. 603. - - Asher Peres, [Quantum Theory: Concepts and Methods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Theory:_Concepts_and_Methods), Kluwer, 1993; [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7923-2549-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7923-254… p. 115. - - [Schrödinger, Erwin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Schr%C3%B6dinger) (November 1935). "Die gegenwärtige Situation in der Quantenmechanik (The present situation in quantum mechanics)". [Naturwissenschaften](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturwissenschaften) (in German). 23 (48): 807–812. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1935NW.....23…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/BF01491891](h…. [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [206795705](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:206795705). - - Polkinghorne, J. C. (1985). [The Quantum World](https://books.google.com/books?id=lp4JPYnLrtEC&q=%22schrodinger's+cat%22+%22alive+dead&pg=PA67). Princeton University Press. p. 67. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0691023883](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0691023883). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150519001623/https://books.google.c…'s+cat%22+%22alive+dead) from the original on 2015-05-19. - - Tetlow, Philip (2012). [Understanding Information and Computation: From Einstein to Web Science](https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk7O3EG0Xn4C&q=%22alive+and+dead…. Gower Publishing, Ltd. p. 321. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1409440406](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-14094…. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150519001741/https://books.google.c… from the original on 2015-05-19. - - Khrennikov, A (2006). ""Quantum-like brain: "Interference of minds". Biosystems. 84 (3): 225–241. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.biosystems.…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [16427733](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16427733). - - Khrennikov, A. Information Dynamics in Cognitive, Psychological, Social, and Anomalous Phenomena (Fundamental Theories of Physics) (Volume 138), Kluwer, 2004. - - Atmanspacher, H.; Römer, H.; Walach, H. (2002). "Weak quantum theory: Complementarity and entanglement in physics and beyond". Foundations of Physics. 32 (3): 379–406. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1023/a:10148093123…. [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [118583726](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:118583726). - - Aerts, D.; Aerts, S. (1994). "Applications of quantum statistics in psychological studies of decision processes". Foundations of Science. 1: 85–97. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/BF00208726](h…. - - [Feynman, Richard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman) (1985). QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. Princeton University Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-691-12575-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-…. - - Tegmark, M. (2000). "Importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes". Physical Review E. 61 (4): 4194–4206. [arXiv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)):[quant-ph/9907009]…. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2000PhRvE..61…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1103/PhysRevE.61.4…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [11088215](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11088215). [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [17140058](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:17140058). - - Charles Seife (4 February 2000). "Cold Numbers Unmake the Quantum Mind". Science. 287 (5454): 791. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1126/science.287.5…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [10691548](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10691548). [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [33761196](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:33761196). - - Yuhas, Daisy (May 24, 2012). ["Speedy Science: How fast can you react?"](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-reaction-time/). Scientific American. Retrieved 18 Feb 2018. - - Velmans, M. (1992). "Is Consciousness Integrated?". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 15 (2): 229–230. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/s0140525x0006…. (Commentary on Dennett & Kinsbourne "Time and the observer", BBS, 1992, 15(2): 183–201.) - - Dennett, Daniel (Feb 2017). From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds (1st ed.). New York: W. W. Norton and Company. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0393242072](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-03932…. - - BRAIN Initiative. ["BRAIN Initiative: Research on the Ethical Implications of Advancements in Neurotechnology and Brain Science (R01)"](https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-MH-17-260.html). Retrieved 4 Feb 2018. - - DeBakcsy, Dale (May 2014). "Stop Heisenberg Abuse!: Three Outrageous Misappropriations of Quantum Physics". Skeptical Inquirer. 38 (3): 40–43. - - Chopra, Deepak (1997). [Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old](https://archive.org/details/agelessbodytimel0000chop). Random House. p. [6](https://archive.org/details/agelessbodytimel0000chop/page/6). [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780679774495](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780679774…. - - [Carroll, Robert Todd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Todd_Carroll) (May 19, 2013), ["Deepak Chopra"](http://www.skepdic.com/chopra.html), [The Skeptic's Dictionary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skeptic%27s_Dictionary). - - [Park, Robert L.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Park) (September 1, 2005). ["Chapter 9: Voodoo medicine in a scientific world"](https://books.google.com/books?id=XImEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA137). In Ashman, Keith; Barringer, Phillip (eds.). After the Science Wars: Science and the Study of Science. Routledge. pp. 137–. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-134-61618-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-…. - - Chopra, Deepak (2013-06-19). ["Richard Dawkins Plays God: The Video (Updated)"](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/richard-dawkins-plays-god_b_3467484.html). Huffington Post. Retrieved 5 Mar 2018. - - O'Neill, Ian (May 26, 2011). ["Does Quantum Theory Explain Consciousness?"](http://news.discovery.com/space/does-quantum-theory-explain-consciousness-110526.htm). Discovery News. Discovery Communications, LLC. Retrieved August 11, 2014. - - Carter, Chris (2012). Science and Psychic Phenomena: The Fall of the House of Skeptics. Inner Traditions Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1594774515](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-15947…. - - Radford, Benjamin (Mar 2014). "The House of Skeptics Serves Psi (and Crow)". Skeptical Inquirer. 37 (2): 60–62. - - Hill, Sharon (Mar 2012). ["Amateur Paranormal Research and Investigation Groups Doing 'Sciencey' Things"](https://www.csicop.org/si/show/amateur_paranormal_research_and_investigation_groups_doing_sciencey_things). Skeptical Inquirer. 36 (2): 38–41. - - Hill, Sharon. ["Scientifical Americans: Paranormal Researchers and the Public Understanding of Science"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hgmTl12isA). YouTube.com. Retrieved 17 Feb 2018. Further reading - Flanagan, Brian J. (2003). ["Are perceptual fields quantum fields?"](http://wordassociation1.net/FieldWork.html). NeuroQuantology. 1 (3): 334–364. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.14704/nq.2003.1.3.…. - Georgiev, Danko D. (2017). [Quantum Information and Consciousness: A Gentle Introduction](https://books.google.com/books?id=OtRBDwAAQBAJ). Boca Raton: CRC Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781138104488](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781138104…. [OCLC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)) [1003273264](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1003273264). - Hodgson, David (1993). [The Mind Matters: Consciousness and Choice in a Quantum World](https://books.google.com/books?id=wrvAQgAACAAJ). Clarendon Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-824068-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-…. - Koch, Christof; Hepp, Klaus (2006). ["Quantum mechanics in the brain"](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F440611a). Nature. 440 (7084): 611–612. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2006Natur.440…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/440611a](http…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [16572152](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16572152). [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [5085015](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:5085015). - Litt, Abninder; Eliasmith, Chris; Kroon, Frederick W.; Weinstein, Steven; Thagard, Paul (2006). ["Is the brain a quantum computer?"](http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~celiasmi/Papers/litt%20et%20al.2006.quantum%20brain.cogsci.pdf) (PDF). Cognitive Science. 30 (3): 593–603. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1207/s15516709cog0…. [PMID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMID_(identifier)) [21702826](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21702826). - [Lockwood, Michael](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lockwood_(philosopher)) (1995). [Mind, Brain, and the Quantum: The Compound 'I'](https://books.google.com/books?id=wUducgAACAAJ). Basil Blackwell. - [McFadden, Johnjoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnjoe_McFadden) (2000) [Quantum Evolution](http://www.surrey.ac.uk/qe/quantumevolution.htm) HarperCollins. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-00-255948-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-00-25594…; [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-00-655128-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-00-65512… . Final chapter on the quantum mind. - Rosenblum, Bruce; Kuttner, Fred (2011). [Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness](http://quantumenigma.com/) (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780199753819](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780199753…. - [Schrödinger, Erwin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Schr%C3%B6dinger) (2012). [What is Life?: With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches](https://archive.org/download/WhatIsLife_201708/What%20is%20Life.p… (PDF). Canto Classics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1107604667](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-11076…. - [Weyl, Hermann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Weyl) (1934). [Mind and Nature](https://books.google.com/books?id=Sw_WcQAACAAJ). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. - [Wigner, Eugene P.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Wigner) (1970). "Physics and the explanation of life". Foundations of Physics. 1 (1): 35–45. [Bibcode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1970FoPh....1…. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/bf00708653](h…. [S2CID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)) [121081834](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:121081834). - Khoshbin-e-Khoshnazar, M.R. (2020). ["From Dark Energy of The Very Early Universe To Dim Energy of The Mind"](https://neuroquantology.com). NeuroQuantology. 8 (7): 26–34. [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)):[10.14704/nq.2003.1.3.…. }} External links - [Center for Consciousness Studies](http://consciousness.arizona.edu/), directed by [Stuart Hameroff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hameroff) - [PhilPapers on Philosophy of Mind](https://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-mind), edited by David Bourget and [David Chalmers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Chalmers) - [Quantum Approaches to Consciousness](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-consciousness/), entry in [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Encyclopedia_of_Philosop… - [Quantum-Mind](http://www.quantum-mind.co.uk/), founded by Simon Raggett

2 1

As many as 200 Americans have now reported possible symptoms of 'Havana Syndrome'
by jim bell 22 Jul '22

22 Jul '22

https://news.yahoo.com/many-200-americans-now-reported-083000770.html Almost half of those reporting symptoms are linked to the CIA, say officials, with possible cases in Berlin and Vienna and on every continent but Antarctica._--__-------- Jim Bell's comment follows. Given how easy it should be to do an audio or radio/microwave spectrum analysis, using a SDR and smartphone, I'm surprised this is still so mysterious.

6 14

Globalism: MINDSPACE - From 9/11 to The Great Reset Matrix
by grarpamp 05 Jul '22

05 Jul '22

https://asiatimes.com/2020/09/from-9-11-to-the-great-reset/ https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%2… https://www.bi.team/publications/mindspace/ " Something’s gotta give. And then, out of the blue, it did. A drive by design towards ironclad concentration of power and geoeconomic diktats was first conceptualized – under the deceptive cover of “sustainable development” – already in 2015 at the UN (here it is, in detail). Now, this new operating system – or technocratic digital dystopia – is finally being codified, packaged and “sold” since mid summer via a lavish, concerted propaganda campaign. The whole Planet Lockdown hysteria that elevated Covid-19 to post-modern Black Plague proportions has been consistently debunked, for instance here and here, drawing from the highly respected, original Cambridge source. The de facto controlled demolition of large swathes of the global economy allowed corporate and vulture capitalism, world wide, to rake untold profits out of the destruction of collapsed businesses. And all that proceeded with widespread public acceptance – an astonishing process of voluntary servitude. None of it is accidental. As an example, over ten years ago, even before setting up a – privatized – Behavioral Insights Team, the British government was very much interested in “influencing” behavior, in collaboration with the London School of Economics and Imperial College. The end result was the MINDSPACE report. That was all about behavioral science influencing policymaking and most of all, imposing neo-Orwellian population control. MINDSPACE, crucially, featured close collaboration between Imperial College and the Santa Monica-based RAND corporation. Translation: the authors of the absurdly flawed computer models that fed the Planet Lockdown paranoia working in conjunction with the top Pentagon-linked think tank. https://www.weforum.org/focus/the-great-reset https://intelligence.weforum.org/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/strategic-intelligence-widget-artifi… https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/covid19-this-is-how-to-get-the-great… And that is more than enough to beautifully set up “the cure”: The Great Reset. The beating heart The Great Reset was officially launched in early June by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the natural habitat of Davos Man. Its conceptual base is something the WEF describes as Strategic Intelligence Platform: “a dynamic system of contextual intelligence that enables users to trace relationships and interdependencies between issues, supporting more informed decision-making”. The Great Reset is immensely ambitious, spanning over 50 fields of knowledge and practice. It interconnects everything from economy recovery recommendations to “sustainable business models”, from restoration of the environment to the redesign of social contracts. The beating heart of this matrix is – what else – the Strategic Intelligence Platform, encompassing, literally, everything: “sustainable development”, “global governance”, capital markets, climate change, biodiversity, human rights, gender parity, LGBTI, systemic racism, international trade and investment, the – wobbly – future of the travel and tourism industries, food, air pollution, digital identity, blockchain, 5G, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI). The Great Reset presupposes that all stakeholders – as in the whole planet – must toe the line. Otherwise, as Schwab stresses, we will have “more polarization, nationalism, racism, increased social unrest and conflicts”. In the end, only an all-in-one Plan A applies for making these systems interact seamlessly: the Great Reset – shorthand for a New World Order that has always been glowingly evoked, but never implemented. There is no Plan B. Whether Covid-19’s ultimate “window of opportunity” presented itself as a mere coincidence or by design, will always remain a very juicy question. Already three months ago, Schwab’s book hinted that the more everyone is mired in the global paralysis, the more it’s clear that things will never be allowed (italics mine) to return to what we considered normal. What has been imposed as an ironclad consensus is that without a Covid-19 vaccine there’s no possibility of anything resembling normality. https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/05/15/how-biosecurity-is-enabli… What matters above all is the “window of opportunity” offered by Covid-19, boosting, among other issues, the expansion of what I previously described as Digital Neo-Feudalism – or Algorithm gobbling up Politics. No wonder politico-economic institutions from the WTO to the EU as well as the Trilateral Commission are already investing in “rejuvenation” processes, code for even more concentration of power. "

1 2

Limits to growth
by coderman 22 Jun '22

22 Jun '22

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3xw3x/new-research-vindicates-1972-mit-pre… MIT Predicted in 1972 That Society Will Collapse This Century. New Research Shows We’re on Schedule. A 1972 MIT study predicted that rapid economic growth would lead to societal collapse in the mid 21st century. A new paper shows we’re unfortunately right on schedule. NA by [Nafeez Ahmed](https://www.vice.com/en/contributor/nafeez-ahmed) July 14, 2021, 6:00am - - - [GettyImages-1189106363] Image: Getty A remarkable new study by a director at one of the largest accounting firms in the world has found that a famous, decades-old warning from MIT about the risk of industrial civilization collapsing appears to be accurate based on new empirical data. As the world looks forward to a rebound in economic growth following the devastation wrought by the pandemic, the research raises urgent questions about the risks of attempting to simply return to the pre-pandemic ‘normal.’ In 1972, a team of MIT scientists got together to study the risks of civilizational collapse. Their [system dynamics model](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/jun/04/sc… published by the Club of Rome identified impending ‘limits to growth’ (LtG) that meant industrial civilization was on track to collapse sometime within the 21st century, due to overexploitation of planetary resources. The controversial MIT analysis generated heated debate, and was widely derided at the time by pundits who misrepresented its findings and methods. But the analysis has now received stunning vindication from a study written by a senior director at professional services giant KPMG, one of the 'Big Four' accounting firms as measured by global revenue. Limits to growth The study was published in the Yale Journal of Industrial Ecology in November 2020 and is available [on the KPMG website](https://advisory.kpmg.us/articles/2021/limits-to-growth.html). It concludes that the current business-as-usual trajectory of global civilization is heading toward the terminal decline of economic growth within the coming decade—and at worst, could trigger societal collapse by around 2040. The study represents the first time a top analyst working within a mainstream global corporate entity has taken the ‘limits to growth’ model seriously. Its author, Gaya Herrington, is Sustainability and Dynamic System Analysis Lead at KPMG in the United States. However, she decided to undertake the research as a personal project to understand how well the MIT model stood the test of time. The study itself is not affiliated or conducted on behalf of KPMG, and does not necessarily reflect the views of KPMG. Herrington performed the research as an extension of [her Masters thesis](https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/37364868) at Harvard University in her capacity as an advisor to the Club of Rome. However, she is quoted [explaining her project](https://advisory.kpmg.us/articles/2021/limits-to-growth.html) on the KPMG website as follows: “Given the unappealing prospect of collapse, I was curious to see which scenarios were aligning most closely with empirical data today. After all, the book that featured this world model was a bestseller in the 70s, and by now we’d have several decades of empirical data which would make a comparison meaningful. But to my surprise I could not find recent attempts for this. So I decided to do it myself.” Titled ‘Update to limits to growth: Comparing the World3 model with empirical data’, the study attempts to assess how MIT’s ‘World3’ model stacks up against new empirical data. Previous studies that attempted to do this found that the model’s worst-case scenarios accurately reflected real-world developments. However, the [last study](https://sustainable.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/2763500/MSSI-ResearchPaper-4_Turner_2014.pdf) of this nature was completed in 2014. The risk of collapse Herrington’s new analysis examines data across 10 key variables, namely population, fertility rates, mortality rates, industrial output, food production, services, non-renewable resources, persistent pollution, human welfare, and ecological footprint. She found that the latest data most closely aligns with two particular scenarios, ‘BAU2’ (business-as-usual) and ‘CT’ (comprehensive technology). “BAU2 and CT scenarios show a halt in growth within a decade or so from now,” the study concludes. “Both scenarios thus indicate that continuing business as usual, that is, pursuing continuous growth, is not possible. Even when paired with unprecedented technological development and adoption, business as usual as modelled by LtG would inevitably lead to declines in industrial capital, agricultural output, and welfare levels within this century.” Study author Gaya Herrington told Motherboard that in the MIT World3 models, collapse “does not mean that humanity will cease to exist,” but rather that “economic and industrial growth will stop, and then decline, which will hurt food production and standards of living… In terms of timing, the BAU2 scenario shows a steep decline to set in around 2040.” [image3.png] The ‘Business-as-Usual’ scenario (Source: Herrington, 2021 The end of growth? In the comprehensive technology (CT) scenario, economic decline still sets in around this date with a range of possible negative consequences, but this does not lead to societal collapse. [image1.png] The ‘Comprehensive Technology’ scenario (Source: Herrington, 2021 Unfortunately, the scenario which was the least closest fit to the latest empirical data happens to be the most optimistic pathway known as ‘SW’ (stabilized world), in which civilization follows a sustainable path and experiences the smallest declines in economic growth—based on a combination of technological innovation and widespread investment in public health and education. [image2.png] )The ‘Stabilized World’ Scenario (Source: Herrington, 2021) Although both the business-as-usual and comprehensive technology scenarios point to the coming end of economic growth in around 10 years, only the BAU2 scenario “shows a clear collapse pattern, whereas CT suggests the possibility of future declines being relatively soft landings, at least for humanity in general.” Both scenarios currently “seem to align quite closely not just with observed data,” Herrington concludes in her study, indicating that the future is open. A window of opportunity While focusing on the pursuit of continued economic growth for its own sake will be futile, the study finds that technological progress and increased investments in public services could not just avoid the risk of collapse, but lead to a new stable and prosperous civilization operating safely within planetary boundaries. But we really have only the next decade to change course. “At this point therefore, the data most aligns with the CT and BAU2 scenarios which indicate a slowdown and eventual halt in growth within the next decade or so, but World3 leaves open whether the subsequent decline will constitute a collapse,” the study concludes. Although the ‘stabilized world’ scenario “tracks least closely, a deliberate trajectory change brought about by society turning toward another goal than growth is still possible. The LtG work implies that this window of opportunity is closing fast.” In a presentation at the World Economic Forum in 2020 delivered in her capacity as a KPMG director, Herrington [argued](https://www.weflive.com/story/e968fb0963974e1e8f6c636e5654cbc2) for ‘agrowth’—an agnostic approach to growth which focuses on other economic goals and priorities. “Changing our societal priorities hardly needs to be a capitulation to grim necessity,” she said. “Human activity can be regenerative and our productive capacities can be transformed. In fact, we are seeing examples of that happening right now. Expanding those efforts now creates a world full of opportunity that is also sustainable.” She noted how the rapid development and deployment of vaccines at unprecedented rates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that we are capable of responding rapidly and constructively to global challenges if we choose to act. We need exactly such a determined approach to the environmental crisis. “The necessary changes will not be easy and pose transition challenges but a sustainable and inclusive future is still possible,” said Herrington. The best available data suggests that what we decide over the next 10 years will determine the long-term fate of human civilization. Although the odds are on a knife-edge, Herrington pointed to a “rapid rise” in environmental, social and good governance priorities as a basis for optimism, signalling the change in thinking taking place in both governments and businesses. She told me that perhaps the most important implication of her research is that it’s not too late to create a truly sustainable civilization that works for all.

4 6

The Verge: Elon Musk says Starlink internet service will be ‘fully mobile’ in 2021
by jim bell 27 May '22

27 May '22

The Verge: Elon Musk says Starlink internet service will be ‘fully mobile’ in 2021. https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/16/22388378/elon-musk-starlink-satellite-in… Jim Bell's comment: I imagine, and hope, that this news will signal the ability of the Starlink system to be used by people in "freedom-hostile" nations. But, that may depend on how this is implemented. Can anyone buy a dish and use it anywhere on Earth? Without regard to political boundaries?

3 6