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No. Or rather, only in the same sense that quantum mechanics is the underlying level of organization for everything.
by Eliezer 17y ago
No.
Or rather, only in the same sense that quantum mechanics is the underlying level of organization for everything.
- cma 17y agoI don't think we know enough about photosynthesis to know whether that is the sense or not. http://www.scottaaronson.com/lightharvest.gif http://www.scottaaronson.com/lightharvest.gif Shown above is a light-harvesting molecule (image snagged from Alán’s slides), which apparently is efficient at concentrating light at its center for essentially the same reason the Childs et al. quantum walk reaches the target vertex exponentially faster than a classical walk: namely, because of destructive interference between the paths that point backward, toward the leaves. According to Alán, what plants do to harvest sunlight is not entirely unrelated either (it also involves quantum coherence), and fully understanding these mechanisms in quantum information terms might conceivably be useful in designing better solar cells.
- goodside 17y agocma: This article was originally posted with the title used by Discover, "Is Quantum Mechanics Controlling Your Thoughts?", and Eliezer's "No" was in response to that. PG changed the submitted headline after my earlier comment below.