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Nobel Laureate in Physics, Roger Penrose poses with his
Nobel medal |
This idea is retroactive. The mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose, winner of the Nobel Prize in mathematics, states, "It has to be that," considering a conundrum concerning reality's fundamental components that has plagued science for almost a century. He continues, "Any reasonable physicist wouldn't be disturbed by this." But I'm not a very smart physicist.
If Penrose isn't a logical physicist, it's because the laws
of physics don't make sense—at least not when it comes to the subatomic level,
when the tiniest objects in the world behave differently from what is observed
by the naked eye. He has good grounds to think that there is a rift separating
two distinct realities as the cause of this divergence. He also has good cause
to think that the physical mechanism bridging these two realities will reveal
solutions to the enigma of our own existence, which is the physics of
awareness.
Penrose made important contributions to physics and
mathematics. According to his idea, there were consecutive worlds before the
great bang, and remnants of these universes appear to be influencing our own.
He and Stephen Hawking worked together to develop the Penrose-Hawking
singularity theorems, which pinpoint singularities—points in the universe where
gravity is so strong that spacetime itself collapses catastrophically.
Penrose and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff have been
developing Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch OR), a theory of
consciousness, for many years. Penrose is mostly responsible for Orch OR's
physics, whereas Hameroff is in charge of its biology. In light of significant
holes in the accepted scientific frameworks encompassing physics, neuroscience,
and psychology, their theory was developed. It's possible that all, some, or
none of the theories in this hypothesis will hold up in experiments.
The Theory Starts With A Tiny Collapse
Quantum particles are the smallest known units of matter in
the cosmos. Multiple states are simultaneously possible for quantum particles.
We refer to this as the superposition of a particle. The superposition of the
particle is described mathematically by a wave function. A particle's numerous
potential states can decrease to a single, fixed state when a wave function
collapses. The collapse of wave functions is crucial to the existence of
reality. When we stare at something with the unaided eye, we perceive only one
thing due of collapse. We do not perceive a single item as numerous possible
things at once in the world of huge things, the universe described by classical
physics.
The Connection Between Collapse And Consciousness
A particle appears to collapse into a single, stable state
when measured by physicists. However, the cause of collapse, also known as
diminution of the state, is unknown. Even some philosophers and physicists
believe that wave function collapse is a complex illusion. The quantum
mechanical measurement problem is the name given to this discussion.
Many philosophers and physicists have concluded that quantum
particles are somehow being influenced by a conscious observer as a result of
the measurement problem. One theory is that collapse is brought about by a
conscious observer. Another theory holds that the world splits apart and
spirals out alternate realities when a conscious observer commands it to do so.
These universes would exist in parallel but be closed off to us, causing us to
only ever see things in the one state in whichever plausible reality we are
imprisoned in. This is the theory of many worlds, or the multiverse. Penrose
states, "The point of view that it is consciousness that reduces the state
is really an absurdity," and goes on to claim that every physicist
eventually grows out of the belief in Many Worlds. "I shouldn't be so
direct because that seems to be the opinion of very notable people."
Penrose retracts. He dismisses the notion that a conscious observer collapses
wave functions just by seeing them with grace but without elaboration.
Similarly, he brushes aside the idea that a glimpse sends a cognizant observer
spinning out into near-infinite universes. Without a theory of consciousness,
Penrose argues, "that's making consciousness do the job of collapsing the
wave function." Reversing the argument, I contend that awareness does, for
a variety of reasons, depend on the wave function collapsing. Regarding that
bodily procedure.
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