3 ms·
Considering how little we understand about the classical, let alone quantum, mechanics of the brain, it doesn't seem correct to dismiss the idea that something
by RobotToaster 4y ago
Considering how little we understand about the classical, let alone quantum, mechanics of the brain, it doesn't seem correct to dismiss the idea that something resembling, at least vaguely, a soul may exist.
What we call a "soul" today, may have a material, logical, explanation. Two of the greatest theoretical physicists, Wolfgang Pauli and David Bohm, seemed to think so.
- shrimp_emoji 4y agoWhat do you call a "soul" today?
- nathan_compton 4y agoIt may not be correct to _totally_ dismiss it, but as someone with professional experience in physics and neuroscience, I feel quite certain in all-but dismissing it. I'm basically sure that the brain is not meaningfully quantum mechanical and that conscious states correspond essentially entirely to physical states and that even if the brain were to have some essential quantum mechanical character, the second conclusion would not change. The unusual characteristics of quantum mechanics do not give us epistemological carte blanche to believe whatever we like.
- blululu 4y agoMaybe, but I would avoid throwing around quantum mechanics here. The nervous system is generally not a quantum system (it is big), and while there is a ton of chaotic fluid stuff going on (it's all ions), everything we know about nervous systems suggests that they spend a decent amount of resources building in redundancy and eliminating (non-quantum) random events.