CAN QUALITATIVE BIOPHYSICS SOLVE THE HARD PROBLEM?: A Foundational Approach

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“9x6” b2237 Biophysics of Consciousness: A Foundational Approach 2nd Reading
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CAN QUALITATIVE BIOPHYSICS SOLVE
THE HARD PROBLEM?
Alfredo Pereira Jr.,* Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal†
and Massimo Pregnolato‡
*São Paulo State University (UNESP), Institute of Biosciences,
Campus Rubião Jr., 18618-970 — Botucatu-SP, Brazil
†Department of Neuroscience & Consciousness Research,
Vision Research Institute
25 Rita Street, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
‡Department of Drug Sciences, University of Pavia,
Viale Taramelli 12, Pavia, Italy
*apj@ibb.unesp.br
†rlpvimal@yahoo.co.in
‡massimo.pregnolato@unipv.it
Abstract
A solution to the Hard Problem formulated by Chalmers should include
a biophysical nonreductive explanation of the qualities of conscious expe-
rience (‘subjective qualia’). This task is nearly impossible to be performed
in the context of Modern Physics, since most influential scientists and
philosophers conceived such qualities as being mental phenomena with-
out a physical counterpart. We propose to extend the concept of multi-
aspect state into the concept of potential qualitative aspects in fundamental
physics, allowing for its expression in biophysical systems under ade-
quate conditions. We conceptually model a structure, the N-dimensional
dual-aspect state space of Nature, having elementary waveforms (EW) as
Biophysics of Consciousness: A Foundational Approach
R. R. Poznanski, J. A. Tuszynski and T. E. Feinberg
Copyright © 2016 World Scientific, Singapore.
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2 A. Pereira Jr., R. L. P. Vimal & M. Pregnolato
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the qualitative building blocks, and three dynamical phases: a) coherent
wave functions, b) decoherent and c) recoherent macrostates. In coherent
wave functions composing microstates, Elementary Waveforms (EW) are
superposed and entangled. In decoherent macrostates, the Heisenberg
matrix (HM) is reduced to the diagonal, generating — according to the
principles of chemistry — one macro (not conscious) qualitative state. In
living systems, chemical processes combine in a self-organizing manner,
keeping the system at low entropy states and making room for the emer-
gence of new structures and functions by means of an order from fluctua-
tion mechanism. In the brain, the instantiation of macrostates is spatially
distributed and unconscious. Brain recoherent macrostates are formed by
means of the operation of quantum computing gates within ionic waves,
and can be expressed by a hypermatrix (or hypertensor), corresponding
to the binding of qualitative features in one integrated conscious episode.
Once formed, the ionic waves feedback on brain activity, similarly to
David Bohm’s “pilot wave”. In the theoretical context of systems theory,
the global recoherent process would correspond to a phase in Scott
Kelso’s framework of metastable dynamics. In such a dynamics, each reco-
herent macrostate alternates in a time scale of nanoseconds with decoher-
ent macrostates, but we consciously perceive only the sequence of
nanosecond recoherent states, which appear to us in continuous chunks
with the duration of — at least — hundreds of milliseconds.
Keywords: Quantum coherence; decoherence; recoherence; dual-aspect
state; qualitative biophysics; Boltzmann entropy; Maxwell demon;
synergy; metastability; consciousness.
5.1. Introduction
In this chapter, we propose to introduce the potentiality for a qualitative
aspect of conscious experiences in fundamental physics, allowing for its
expression in biophysical systems, under adequate conditions. In ani-
mals, especially in human subjects, we define as conscious processes the
qualitative experiences containing at least four characteristics:
a) Sensations and feelings (such as hunger, thirst, happiness, sadness,
fear, pain, pleasure);
b) Perceptual qualities or ‘qualia’ (such as colors, sounds, smells, tastes, etc.);
c) Cognitive processes grounded on feelings and ‘qualia’, such as atten-
tion, thinking, memory formation and recall, etc.
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Can Qualitative Biophysics Solve the Hard Problem? 3
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d) A spatiotemporal structure, composed of an egocentric spatial frame-
work (Trehub, 2013) and a temporal duration of (conscious) episodes
of 100 ms to 3 s (Poppel et al., 1990).
Our proposal of a qualitative biophysics helping to solve the Hard
Problem of Consciousness (Chalmers, 1995, 1996) is based on the idea that
Elementary Waveforms (EW) that compose quantum microstates contain
the potential for qualitative macrostates (QMSs), as those observed in the
morphology and physiology of living systems. We further claim that the
subjective qualities experienced in conscious episodes can be described
by a hypermatrix/hypertensor composed of QMSs.
A biophysical nonreductive explanation of the qualities of conscious
experience (‘subjective qualia’) is nearly impossible to be performed in
the context of modern physics, since most influential scientists and phi-
losophers conceived such “secondary” qualities as being mental phenom-
ena without a physical counterpart. The ontology of modern physics does
not include secondary qualities; these qualities are considered as existent
in the mind of the observer (Martinez, 1974). The term ‘qualia’ is assumed
to cover both properties of conscious experiences and/or the respective
properties/qualities of objects (Vimal, 2010c).
In the foundations of Modern physics, a decision was made to remove
the conscious observer from the physical domain. The observer was
brought back by Contemporary physics, to explain the collapse of the
wave function in Quantum Theory, and to make explicit the dependence
of physical knowledge on reference frames in Special Relativity. In both
cases, the conscious observer with his/her perception of secondary quali-
ties is introduced to solve physical problems, but is not considered as an
object for physical explanation. With this remark, we are not suggesting
that there is no interpretation of quantum mechanics (QM) without col-
lapse and/or without observer, but assuming that a nonconscious
detector can fulfil the explanatory needs of both QM and relativity.
David Hume stated that the main principle of Modern science and
philosophy “is the opinion concerning colors, sounds, tastes, smells, heat
and cold; which it asserts to be nothing but impressions of the mind,
derived from the operation of external objects, and without a resemblance
to the qualities of the objects” (Hume, 1992, p. 226–227). In this formula-
tion, the mind appears as being a nonphysical system that adds subjective
“secondary” qualities (impressions) to external objects in the process of
perception. This kind of formulation is related to the famous Cartesian
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mind–body dualism (the theory that the conscious being is composed
of two independent substances, the body and the thinking mind) and
the dualist mind–body problem (how could an immaterial soul inter-
act with the material body?), for which an acceptable solution
(Descartes’ appeal to the pineal gland not withstanding) was not found
yet and will probably never be, because of the way the issue was
formulated.
A recent study (Buyse, 2013) has shown that Galileo, considered to be
the original author of the distinction of primary and secondary qualities
in modern times, was not a mind–body dualist and possibly made a for-
mulation of the problem that is different from Descartes and Hume, one
that may inspire contemporary researchers to find a solution. Buyse
(2013) discovered a frequent mistake in the translation of Galileo’s Italian
originals. In most cases, Galileo’s text is translated as meaning that sec-
ondary qualities exist only in the (immaterial) conscious mind of the
observer, however “in the original text, Galileo nowhere writes that sec-
ondary qualities and emotions reside ‘in consciousness’. On the contrary,
he writes that they reside ‘in the sensible body’ [nel corpo sensitivo], or in
other words, in the body of the perceiver, whether it be a human body or
an animal body” (Buyse, 2013). As far as secondary qualities are instanti-
ated in the body of animals, and living systems are considered to be
physical systems, there must be a physics of the conscious mind. Galileo
would probably agree with this challenge.
While recent developments of physical chemistry led to theories
about living systems, such as Prigogine’s Nobel Prize approach to dissi-
pative structures, an understanding of the physics behind secondary
qualities remains a challenge. Advances in neuroscience are not likely to
provide this understanding, since a full physical model of brain function
is still not available. Explanations of conscious activity by neuroscientists
have been based on functional neuroanatomy together with innovative
uses of information theory.
What is the aspect of the physical world that manifests itself as the
subjective qualities experienced by the conscious observer, such as (in
David Hume’s words) “colours, sounds, tastes, smells, heat and cold”?
This is a central issue raised by David Chalmers’ “Hard Problem of
Consciousness”, in a now-classical paper that appeared in the second JCS
issue (Chalmers, 1995).
One step towards the solution of this problem can be built from a
philosophical current we call Multi-Aspect Monism, which includes
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Aristotles’s Hylomorphism and Spinoza’s Substance Monism (the latter,
with two modes of existence: the body and the mind). In contemporary
philosophy of science, this tradition was resumed in Max Velmans’
Reflexive Monism (Velmans, 2008), and extensively developed by two of us
(Pereira Jr., 2003, 2013, 2014; Pereira Jr. et al., 2010; Pereira Jr. et al., 2013;
Vimal, 2008, 2009b, 2009c, 2010d, 2010e, 2010f, 2013).
The recognition of a qualitative aspect of nature finds echoes in other
attempts of reconceptualization of physics, chemistry and molecular biol-
ogy. The expression “Qualitative Physics” (Forbus, 1988) applies to quali-
ties we perceive in everyday life. For example, there is a qualitative
ontology implied in the sharing of our intuitions about the physical world
(‘tacit knowledge’) with robots, using discrete systems of symbols. This
knowledge is obtained from our experiences of external objects and pro-
cesses, by means of the interaction of qualitative aspects of objects with
qualitative features instantiated in our brains (Vimal, 2010b). Mitterauer
claims for a qualitative approach in computational models and robotics,
thus making room for the conceptualization of conscious experiences
(Mitterauer, 2012).
In biology, qualitative features compose the phenotype of living sys-
tems. There is wide agreement that phenotypic structural and functional
characteristics (including mental capabilities) derive from the interaction
of a set of biological determinants (genes), among themselves and with
the environment, composing the epigenetic process. Until recently, this
process was conceived as being weakly emergent (there would be a spe-
cific gene responsible for each phenotypic feature), but the results of big
data projects as the Human Genome suggest that it is strongly emergent:
irreducible phenotypic features spontaneously result from the interaction
of genes and environment (Hayden, 2010). Here, we conceive a similar
process, starting from physical foundations and ending with biological
and conscious phenomena.
We assume that the physical domain contains, besides the matter/
energy aspect, patterns of distribution of matter/energy in space and
time, which are pregnant of potential qualitative aspects. These patterns,
according to the laws and principles of chemistry, become progressively
actualized in both micro and macrostates. In living systems, chemical pro-
cesses combine in a self-organizing manner, keeping the system at low
entropy states and making room for the emergence of new structures and
functions by means of an order from fluctuation mechanism. In the brain,
the instantiation of macrostates is spatially distributed and unconscious,
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but a further mechanism of matching and selection of patterns — supported
by quantum computational gates instantiated in ions and proteins —
prompts the formation of recoherent macrostates, corresponding to the
binding of spatially distributed patterns into conscious episodes experi-
enced by the living organism. Nonconscious states include slow-wave
dreamless deep-sleep, coma, vegetative and anesthetized states, implicit
memory, long-term memory storage, paradoxical awareness as in the case
of “blindsight” and subliminal perception (Rosenthal, 2009; Vimal, 2010a).
In our reconceptualization of physics, phenomenal experience —
including the experience of ‘qualia’ — is conceived as the actualization of
complexes of natural potentialities in recoherent states, given adequate
conditions. In our view, this conceptual move solves the Hard Problem,
indicating how subjective conscious experiences emerge from nature.
However, this strategy does not afford a reductionist approach to the
conscious mind, since the emergence process is conceived as being of the
strong modality, containing several evolutionary steps with results that
cannot be deduced from antecedent states.
5.2. Elementary Waveforms (EW) and the N-Dimensional State Space
of Nature
We depart from a concept of Nature as composed of Elementary Waveforms
(EW) that exist eternally, and combine to generate all natural processes.
These waveforms are dual-state entities, having both matter/energy and a
spatiotemporal pattern of activity that contain potential qualitative aspects.
In this regard, they can be compared to the concept of fundamental reality
advanced by Tesla: “To understand the true nature of the universe, one
must think it terms of energy, frequency and vibration” (Morgan, 2014).
Tesla’s concept is close to ancient Indian and Greek philosophy, consid-
ering the qualitative aspect as fundamental as the physical aspect. This is
because matter (the physical aspect) at all levels (from the fundamental to
microscopic quantum particles to macroscopic object levels) has an insepa-
rable ‘form’, which is a qualitative aspect and is consistent with Aristotle’s
concept of ‘form’ (384–322 BC), Ya
-jñavalkya’s ‘ru
-pa’(form) (c. 1000–700 BC)
in Br
.hada
-ran
.yaka Upanis
.ad (Krishnananda, 1983), and Ba
-dara
-yan
¸a’s ‘ru
-pa’
(form) (c. 500–400 BC) in Brahma Su
-tra (Radhakrishnan, 1960).
Elementary Waveforms (EW) can also be compared to the fundamen-
tal strings proposed by Greene, considering that subatomic strings
would be the elements of reality, which are reproduced in self-similar
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fashion in all spatial scales (Greene, 1999, 2004). An illustrative video can
be found in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZKxLpeYISE#t=29.
Greene seems to imply that string theory is more fundamental than
QM. Mass, charge and spin of all elementary particles (six quarks: up,
down, top, bottom, charm, strange; six leptons: electron, muon, tau, elec-
tron neutrino, muon neutrino, tau neutrino; five bosons: gluon, photon,
z-boson, w-boson and Higgs boson) are associated with the pattern of
vibration that a string executes (Greene, 1999). If string theory is correct,
then we should be able to derive elementary particles from strings. The
idea that the fundamental elements of reality are strings instead of parti-
cles is consistent with our proposal, since strings have both energy and
patterns of activity with a degree of self-similarity across spatial dimen-
sions (Flanagan, 2003), supporting the “brute fact” of existence of qualita-
tive aspects in nature.
When introducing the qualitative aspect in physics, we address the
issue of incompleteness of QM (Einstein et al., 1935; Flanagan, 2003). It is
well known that QM has many different and divergent interpretations,
some of them purely epistemic, while others attempt to introduce onto-
logical considerations to better understand the underlying reality. The
debate famously began with Albert Einstein’s dialogue with Niels Bohr
(Einstein, 1971; Einstein et al., 1935) about the incompleteness of QM,
inspiring David Bohm’s effort of postulating an Implicate Order (Bohm,
1952, 1980, 1985, 1987; Bohm & Hiley, 1993), a wavelike continuum infor-
mational domain to explain the observed, discrete Explicate Order. The
philosophical and physical implications of quantum entanglement in
terms of implicate order are elaborated in Caponigro et al. (2010).
There is a possibility of understanding EW as the components of
Bohm’s Implicate Order, being expressed in observable domains of reality,
including the living brain. In neuroscience, Karl Pribram’s work (Pribram,
1987, 1997, 1999, 2007) used Bohm’s insight to figure how the brain could
generate meaning and consciousness. Another theoretical approach to the
reality underlying the quantum probabilistic picture is Quantum Field
Theory, also used in the context of neuroscience and consciousness stud-
ies by Freeman and Vitiello (2006, 2011).
We begin our conceptual modeling with the proposal of a structure.
Let N be a natural system. The ensemble of all possible states of N is given
by the state space of N. The elements of N are Elementary Waveforms
(EW). Each Elementary Waveforms (EW) has a variety of possible states.
Each state of an Elementary Waveforms (EW) is a dual-aspect state,
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containing both the usual energy aspect and a potential qualitative aspect
related to its pattern of activity.
An N-dimensional state space can be constructed when taking into
consideration all potential qualitative states of Elementary Waveforms
(EW). In a simplified approach, it may be convenient to model the state
space of just one Elementary Waveforms (EW). This state space depicts all
possible qualitative states assumed by the Elementary Waveforms (EW);
different macroscopic qualities correspond to different regions of the state
space. For example, consider qualitative states qri (i = 1 to nr) of a single
Elementary Waveforms (EW) underlying a macrostate M. This would
imply that when all qri of a single Elementary Waveforms (EW) are com-
bined in certain way a macrostate M would result. However, this model
is not consistent with the idea of strong emergence based on interactions,
because it assumes that a single Elementary Waveforms (EW) could gen-
erate a macrostate.
In an interactionist approach (as proposed by Cacha & Poznanski,
2014), a macrostate should be conceived as the result of the interaction
and temporal combination of a collection of Elementary Waveforms (EW).
For example, the long wavelength light (related to the color red in our
conscious experiences) is the result of the combination of several
Elementary Waveforms (EW), because a wave is composed of several
values within a range. This approach is consistent with the idea of strong
emergence.
In a more realist — but overwhelming complex — modeling, it is
necessary to conceive a system composed of many Elementary Waveforms
(EW). This kind of model is more adequate to describe the temporal evo-
lution of macrosystems, actualizing different potentialities of a collection
of Elementary Waveforms (EW) in time. This complex structure evolves
into three phases of coherence–decoherence–recoherence (de Ponte et al.,
2010). The characteristics presented by macroscopic systems correspond
to the region of the state space occupied by the system at each time of
observation.
The dual state space of nature contains all its actual and potential
states, each one with two aspects: energy/matter and qualitative
aspects. In the construction of this conceptual state space, we assume
that each quality (“primary” qualities as mass, extension, weight, pres-
sure, charge, etc. as well as “secondary” qualities as color, sound, pain,
pleasure, etc.) is described in a set of dimensions, e.g., three dimensions
for fundamental colors, four dimensions for taste, four to seven
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dimensions for basic emotional feelings, etc. The result is a large set of
dimensions that can accommodate every event that occurs in nature, be
it a physical, chemical, biological, social, informational, computational
and/or mental conscious event.
The actualization of the qualitative aspect of Elementary Waveforms
(EW) occurs in three dynamical phases, discussed in the following sec-
tions: coherent wave functions in microstates, decoherent (unconscious)
and recoherent (conscious) macrostates. Qualitative conscious experi-
ence occurs only during the last phase.
5.3 Coherent Wave Functions and QMSs
Each coherent wave function (microstate) contains a collection of
Elementary Waveforms (EW). This collection is described by the HM, cor-
responding to Schrödinger’s concept of a quantum wave function. While
the collection is in the coherent kind of state, Elementary Waveforms (EW)
are superposed and entangled. Interaction with the environment, as well
as the driving tendency to thermodynamic equilibrium described by the
Second Law of Thermodynamics (stating that without external influences
the entropy of a system always increases spontaneously) are related to the
process of wave function decoherence.
The relation between entropic irreversibility and quantum decoher-
ence has been demonstrated (Frasca, 2007), but it is still not clear what
is the cause and what is the effect, of if both processes derive from a
common cause (as Boltzmann`s “Principle of Molecular Disorder”; see
discussion below).
In an attempt to recast the Copenhagen epistemic approach into an
ontological picture, Zurek proposed to reconceive the idea of a “collapse”
of the wave function by means of the decoherence approach, which is con-
venient also for our usage of the concept of recoherence (Zurek, 2005, 2007).
Zurek (2005, 2007) uses HM to describe the (equivalent of) Schrödinger
wave function and how it decoheres in time, when an interaction with the
environment occurs. In this approach, the concept of decoherence is not
exactly the same as the concept of a collapse, but takes its place.
In a decohered macrostate, only the diagonal of the HM survives
(Zurek, 2005, 2007). The outcome of each decoherence process is a
QMS, that corresponds to the combination of all Elementary Waveforms
(EW) of the diagonal; in other words, a QMS corresponds to the whole
diagonal, not to a single outcome.
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We have suggested that HM refer to potential qualitative aspects instan-
tiated in material substrates. Considering the historical context when the
concept of a ‘measurable’ was formulated — dominated by philosophical
Empiricism and Instrumentalism — it is comprehensible that reference
was made to the process of measurement, instead of making reference to
the content that appears in the observation act. As the purpose of our work
is grounding qualitative conscious experiences in nature, we are disposed
to argue in favor of the ontological thesis of ‘measurables’ being potential
qualities.
All scientific measurement ends with an observation that reveals
qualitative features of nature. Flanagan reminds us that the relation
between quantum fields and conscious ‘qualia’ was anticipated by several
approaches, including Herman Weyl’s, quantum chromodynamics, gauge
theory, and Kaluza–Klein (Flanagan, 2003, 2007). As argued by Flanagan
(2003), the conscious qualities (qualia) that appear in our consciousness in
the process of observation are supported quantum fields, which can be
identified with the so-called ‘observables’. However, a compromise with
Flanagan´s ‘Mind/Brain Identity’ hypothesis is not necessary for our
argument, since we propose a series of phases from the information car-
ried by a photonic field to the final recoherent macrostate that instantiates
a conscious episode.
In decohered macrostates, the HM is reduced to the diagonal, generat-
ing one macro (not conscious) qualitative state. There are two sub-phases
in this process:
(1) The formation of chemical elements by combinations of single atomic
particles.
The intrinsic qualities of each chemical elements are expressed by
their atomic properties, such as the number of particles and the elec-
tronic configurations that determine their “reactivity” with other ele-
ments and their “affinities”, which are comparable to human
relationships (Goethe, 1980). Attempts to explain the periodic table by
scientists like Bohr and Pauli have produced important concepts and
have helped to shape QM itself. Although QM gives a perfectly good
ab initio explanation of the lengths of periods of elements, it does not
fully explain the precise order of shell filling, which is summarized by
the “n + l” or Madelung Rule (Scerri, 2006). It is well known that in
living beings between 26 and 39 elements or more can be found. Some
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elements are fundamental ions necessary to life: calcium, sodium,
potassium and chlorine are the most abundant. Many others are con-
sidered oligoelements and occur mainly in enzymatic cofactors.
(2) The formation of chemical substances by combinations of single elements.
Thanks to their peculiar characteristics, the elements can react
together to form molecules with new emerging properties necessary
for life. The most abundant elements in nature are: oxygen, carbon,
hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus, which reacting together
form the main macromolecules of life. The combination of oxygen
and hydrogen produces the ubiquitous water that is present in all life
forms, from humans (with about 60–70%) to jellyfish (with about 99%
of water). The combination of C, H, O produce carbohydrates and
lipids; with two more elements, such as N and S, amino acids and
proteins are obtained. The nucleic acids are a good example of macro-
molecules with huge informational properties deriving from the com-
binations of only five elements (C, H, N, O, P) forming four nucleotide
building blocks. The DNA drives the process of production of pro-
teins and the activity of proteins confers qualitative properties to the
living cells. Metabolic reactions mediate the definition of the qualities
of each cell.
We argue that all these materials and informational processes and their
respective qualitative properties derive from quantum functions, which
are ultimately derived from Elementary Waveforms (EW). However, at this
phase (decoherent macrostates with chemical properties) the qualities
occur unconsciously, until they are perceived by an adequate natural
system.
5.4 Entropy Reduction and Life
Although the potentiality for life and consciousness is ubiquitous, these
phenomena do not exist everywhere in nature. The actualization of con-
scious states requires the satisfaction of all necessary conditions of con-
sciousness (such as formation of neural-networks, wakefulness, reentry,
attention, information integration, working memory, stimulus contrast at
or above threshold, and potential experiences embedded in neural-
network) the most salient of which possibly consists of distance from
thermodynamic equilibrium (Schrödinger, 1944). This condition is
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provided by means of the action of local entropy reducers, without violat-
ing the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
When Thermodynamics and Quantum Theory are combined, a
plausible interpretation suggests a connection between the processes of
decoherence and irreversibility (Halliwell et al., 1994). If quantum
decoherence — understood as loss of correlation between particles that
have interacted (Pereira Jr. & Rocha, 2000) — is related to entropy increase,
a mechanism that locally decreases entropy — the Biological Maxwell
Demon, as formulated by (Monod, 1970) — can allow microscopic poten-
tialities to emerge at the macroscopic level, thus generating phenomena of
life, affect, cognition and consciousness.
A balance of attraction and repulsion is found at the level of atomic
particles (bosons and fermions), charged atoms and surfaces. This balance
leads to the binding of elements forming aggregates. Under high entropy
regimes, potential forms in entangled aggregates cannot reach the macro
level because of the decoherence/entropy increase process. The opera-
tion of mechanisms that keep self-organizing systems at low entropy
states allow some forms to be actualized at the macro level, leading to the
emergence of life and consciousness.
Schrödinger (1944) argued that a local decrease of entropy in living
systems occurs at the cost of increasing it in environment, thus implying
that complex organization in living tissue could be generated by means of
mechanisms that convert external into internal low entropy. The idea his-
torically derives from conjectures made by Maxwell (1866/1965) and
resumed by Loschmidt (1876) in his objection to the H-Theorem
(an attempt to mechanically demonstrate the tendency to entropy
increase) presented by Boltzmann (1872/1965). As per Narnhofer and
Wreszinski (2014), “the (quantum) Boltzmann entropy increases if the
initial (zero time) density matrix decoheres”.
Boltzmann’s work on physical irreversibility contains a concept of
entropy based on the distinction of micro and macro states. A microstate
refers to the movement values of particles (i.e., position, kinetic energy
and direction of velocity), while a macrostate is conceived in terms of a
coarse-grained description designed to match the measurable values of
classical thermodynamics (temperature, volume and pressure). Each mac-
rostate can be produced by a number of microstates. Boltzmann consid-
ered macrostates that could be produced by larger numbers of microstates
as being more probable, and the increase of entropy as a spontaneous
evolution from less to more probable macrostates.
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His H-Theorem (Boltzmann, 1872/1965) demonstrated that in closed
ideal gas systems there is a spontaneous irreversible increase of entropy.
It describes changes in the function of distribution of particles of a gas
(conceived as the result of mechanical interactions of particles by means
of elastic collisions depending on position, kinetic energy and angle of
collision), obeying the principle of conservation of energy. Boltzmann
used statistics to calculate the changes in the distribution function, mak-
ing some simplifications to capture collective patterns of interactions of
many particles in an ideal gas system. In this mechanistic context, the
probability of the collision of two molecules would depend on their previ-
ous interactions. If they collided before, they could not be considered as
statistically independent. However, in the derivation of the H-Theorem he
considered the movements of the particles as statistically independent,
even in the cases when they collided before. This assumption influenced
how he calculated the number of collisions for each volume unit. As a
consequence, the description of the evolution of the system was biased to
go from less to more probable states. He called this unproved assumption
“Stosszahlansatz” (“Principle for the calculus of the number of colli-
sions”). In 1896, he recognized that this calculation was based on an onto-
logical assumption of “molecular disorder” (the loss of correlation
between microscopic particles, even those that interacted previously). In
this interpretation, when considered in a contemporary perspective, it is
possible to conjecture that molecular disorder would cause the increase of
entropy and possibly be also related to the decoherence process, since
superposition and entanglement are correlations between microscopic
particles — the elimination of correlations would be also a loss of quantum
coherence (for a contemporary view of the relation between decoherence
and entropy increase, see Narnhofer & Wreszinski, 2014).
Could molecular order allow entropy decrease? From a historical per-
spective, the idea that coherent states supporting life and cognition can be
generated from micro/mesoscopic mechanisms that locally decrease
entropy was anticipated in a series of converging speculations by brilliant
scientists, beginning with Maxwell (1860/1965, 1866/1965, 1871). Maxwell
imagined a small agent (later called “Maxwell’s Demon”) placed in a wall
separating two compartments of an isolated gas chamber in thermal equi-
librium. The agent is able to separate the molecules according to their
speed, causing the decrease of the entropy of the system. The imaginary
entity, placed inside a recipient containing a gas, controls the small gate,
separating faster from slower molecules. When a fast molecule
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approaches the gate the Demon leaves it open, but when a slow one
approaches he closes it. The progressive result is the separation of both
kinds of molecules: fast ones in the right and slow ones in the left sides
of the recipient.
Boltzmann’s work put forward the idea that entropy increase depends
on a loss of microscopic correlations. This idea is coherent with Maxwell’s
conjecture, made more than 20 years before — and possibly an influence for
Boltzmann’s mature thought. In fact, when the small entity manipulates
the gas particles to separate the slower from the faster molecules, he cre-
ates molecular order, a difference in concentration of molecules with
different kinetic energy that can be used to produce work (e.g., moving
a cylinder of an engine). The Demon uses information and also a small
amount of energy to generate molecular order, thus decreasing the
entropy of the system.
As long as there are Maxwell Demons operating in the universe, it
will not reach thermodynamic “heat death”. However, as the operation of
Demons requires consumption of useful energy from the environment, it
is not able to decrease the total entropy of the universe. The thermody-
namic prediction would be that the universe as a whole is approaching
heat death in the long run. One plausible possibility of escaping from this
verdict lies in the fact that the Second Law does not apply to the micro-
scopic level. Assuming (Boltzmann, 1896/1964) the equiprobability of
microstates and using the Ergodic Theorem (which states that in the long
run isolated systems spend the same time at each available microstate), it
is possible that in its eternal existence the universe alternates periods of
entropy increase and decrease. An alternative view is a possibility
allowed (but not implied) by Special Relativity equations: the existence of
Final Causes that would direct the evolution of some kinds of systems
towards low entropy states (Vannini, 2009). In this case, the reasoning
would also require specification of mechanisms that reduce entropy.
5.5 Biological Self-Organization
Some approximations are needed to relate Maxwell’s scheme with bio-
logical systems. Biological systems are not isolated, but depend on the
assimilation of low-entropy parts of the environment (food) to stay alive.
The work of Ilya Prigogine and his group in the field of NonEquilibrium
Thermodynamics has showed that — under adequate conditions —
dissipative processes could lead to macroscopic organization. Prigogine
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argued that an open system’s internal production of entropy could be
balanced by an external energy flux generating “dissipative structures”,
by means of an “order from fluctuation” mechanism (Prigogine &
Stengers, 1984; Nicolis & Prigogine, 1987). In this explanation, the emerg-
ing organization is conceived as the result of the pressure towards equi-
librium in open systems receiving a flux of free energy from the outside.
Consumption and usage of external free energy makes possible the
organization of a macro system into low entropy states, when some of the
system’s recessive potentialities (in our terminology, these possibilities
correspond to off-diagonal terms) are amplified, making possible their
emergence at the macro level.
A more recent explanation of entropy dynamics in nonequilibrium
systems is given by the Maximum Entropy Production principle
(Martyushev, 2010). However, it is still far from clear how this or the
opposite (Minimum Entropy Production) principle would apply to bio-
logical systems (see discussion in Volk & Pauluis, 2010). A simpler expla-
nation was advanced by Schrödinger (1944), in terms of a balance of
internal lowering of entropy in living systems with entropy increase in
the environment; the Second law is not violated because the total entropy
of the whole universe is conserved.
Brillouin (1956), inspired by the similarity of the Boltzmann mathe-
matical expression of entropy and the Weaver and Shannon (1949) expres-
sion for average information transmitted between a source and a receiver,
proposed the identification of information and negentropy (the entropy
that a system exports to keep its own entropy low). However, in order to
undergo a negentropic trajectory, it is necessary for a system to possess
adequate mechanisms to absorb low entropy from the environment. As
indicated by Szilard’s classical analysis of the Maxwell proposal, this kind
of operation requires the use of information, which must exist previously
to the operation of the Demon (Szilard, 1929). In biological systems, the
DNA is the main source of structural information. Proteins operate as
Maxwellian mechanisms using molecular and other available information
to reduce entropy in metabolic systems that coordinate biological func-
tions. Information is a requisite for, not the product of emerging organiza-
tion; previous information patterns stored in the system are used to detect
signals and to act upon the underlying processes to decrease the entropy
of the system.
In an engine, the product of entropy reduction is movement (work),
while for living beings movement is only a part of the result. The initial
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step that leads to several functions, including locomotion, is metabolism,
a set of physio-chemical transformations. Two processes are central to
understanding of the work of proteins in producing metabolic interac-
tions: enzymatic reactions (catalysis: enzyme is not modified) and allos-
teric interactions (structure and activity of the enzyme are modified by
the binding of a metabolic molecule). Since the pioneering work of
Monod et al. (1963) on the allosteric model, we know proteins have a
flexible structure limited to mutually exclusive states: relaxed and tense.
The lock-and-key binding of effectors with one or more active microsites
of the protein generates a transition of states, and then the protein can
itself act as an effector to produce a change in another molecule. Allosteric
proteins can form sequential chains to transport information, control gat-
ing mechanisms (like those present in membrane ion channels), and other
functions. These processes, which are low-energy and cybernetic, coexist
with biochemical processes that use energy from glucose to sustain such
operations.
Brain QMS can be chemical and/or electric. The action of proteins
depends on spatial immediacy of effectors and substrates. In overcom-
ing this limitation, evolution developed physiological processes whereby
some proteins encode messages in ionic populations, which broadcast
and carry signals to distant places in the biological tissue. The evolution
of perceptual, emotional and cognitive systems of the brain was based
on the progressive development of neuro-glial connectivity, by means of
bioelectric activity (electrical currents and corresponding magnetic
fields generated by the movement of ions). In synapses, the bioelectric
activity in a preceding neuronal fiber causes release of chemical neuro-
transmitters, which induces another wave of bioelectric activity in sub-
sequent neurons throughout a signal-transduction pathway. In the
neuronal axon, electric currents are generated by the movement of ions
in and out the membrane, while in the astrocytes electric currents are
produced by the movement of ions through cellular microdomains and
gap junctions.
Signal-transduction pathways are complex mechanisms used not
only for transmitting information between cells but also to connect two
independent systems such as the environment and the genome. The neu-
ronal ligand gated ion channel is a typical example of a biological
Maxwell Demon, which uses information and low energy to control the
movements of ions. The emergence of brain affective and cognitive func-
tions can be explained by means of mechanisms of ionic control in
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neurons and astrocytes, inducing the formation of brain-wide coherent
states (Freitas-da-Rocha et al., 2001; Rocha et al., 2005).
An example is the NMDA (N-Methyl-D-Aspartate) neuronal receptor,
containing ion channels that cross the membrane. It is an allosteric protein
with three or more binding sites, controlling Ca++ entry in the post-synaptic
neuron by means of a gate that, in its resting state, is blocked by magne-
sium ions (Mg++). The opening of the NMDA gate depends on the activa-
tion of at least two sites in a hundred-millisecond temporal window. Such
an opening depends on activation of recurrent neuronal networks by
excitatory Glutamate (Glu) and Glycine (Gly) inputs to distal (NR2) and
proximal (NR1) receptor sections, respectively, of apical dendrites of
pyramidal neurons in neocortex.
Many neurons respond to environmental signals such as osmolarity,
pH, and specific ion concentration through sensory receptors as compo-
nents of the transduction pathway acting as a sensor. An example is rho-
dopsin, belonging to the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family,
which is extremely sensitive to light and activate the visual phototrans-
duction pathway. Other examples are odor receptors in olfactory receptor
neurons, which are activated by interacting with molecular substructures
on the odor molecules; taste receptors (gustatory receptors) in taste buds
that interact with chemicals in food to produce an action potential, and
mechanoreceptors that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. The
recently identified H+-gated cation channels (ASICs, Acid Sensing Ion
Channels) in sensory nerve endings are responsible for the activation of
nociceptive afferents by acids (Waldmann, 2001).
The Second Law poses, for self-organizing individuals, the necessity
of capturing low entropy from the environment to fuel an ensemble of
Maxwell Demons that keep the system’s organization and the corre-
sponding capacity of actualization of forms. By means of such a capture,
the individual stays alive and able to execute several operations that actu-
alize morphological, physiological, affective and cognitive forms.
Consciousness, as the final result of the process of actualization of ele-
mentary potential forms into complex aggregates, possibly evolved from
ionic/molecular processes such as those involved in the signaling of
hunger and thirst. For instance, Denton et al. (1999) propose that thirst
sensations are generated by changes in sodium concentration detected by
molecular sensors. The sodium-level detection system is an example of a
signaling unit that generates conscious phenomena, making an early
appearance in the phylogenetic scale.
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Signal exchange with the entire body and external environment is nec-
essary for normal brain development and functioning. Neuroplasticity
means that dynamic patterns of brain activity are shaped by a history of
interactions, the resulting patterns determining aspects of mature brain
structures. For instance, an animal raised with sensory deprivation does
not develop functional perceptual subsystems, whereas under normal con-
ditions patterns of activation co-determine perceptual systems. In humans,
sensory deprivation obtained by the use of an isolation tank is a practice of
depriving a human being of the ability to perceive one or more types of
sensory input (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste). The sensory deprivation
usually appears in a “deprivation tank” or flotation tank, an instrument
invented by John Lilly in the late 50s. The subject is immersed in a tank
containing water saturated with Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate), main-
tained at body temperature and fully soundproof in order to eliminate the
tactile, visual and auditory sensations, and to isolate it from any kind of
contact with the outside world (Lilly, 1956, 1977; Sireteanu et al., 2008).
Under these conditions, after reaching a certain state of relaxation, the per-
son begins to feel so altered the boundaries of her own body, her arms seem
lengthened or shortened and can manifest buzzing, flashing lights and
other visions such as real hallucinations. In rare cases episodes of delirium
reflecting the loss of contact with reality have been reported. According to
a recent hypothesis the perception detachment from ordinary reality origi-
nates in molecular changes at the cellular level, where the transitional
sequence: viscosity of membrane/Gsα protein/tubulin/microtubule
nanowire network is somehow altered (Cocchi et al., 2011).
Brain activity is located at the intersection of two cycles, the Epigenetic
Cycle, a circular flux of information, composed of genetic expression
into proteins and regulatory feedback from proteins to genes, and the
Functional Cycle, a circular flux of efferent and afferent processes, origi-
nally proposed by Von Uexkull (1957). The entire body mediates the inter-
action of the brain with the environment. When the functional cycle is
formed, the motor system, besides controlling behavior, also sends signals
to the perceptual system (Gilbert, 2001). In the Epigenetic Cycle, genes are
expressed into messenger RNA and proteins, which control brain activity.
By means of both kinds of feedback, external and internal to the brain, an
“inner world” (the Umwelt; Von Uexkull, 1957) emerges from an active
functional cycle.
By means of such a series of interactive processes, the potential quali-
ties of Elementary Waveforms (EW) can progressively emerge in
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macroscopic systems. In biological systems, the interactive process of
emergence of QMS includes a genetic phase. Genes combine and interact
with the environment, resulting in phenotypic features. As a result, bio-
logical systems have two inseparable aspects — physical and mental —
derived from the combination of elementary qualities and their interactions
within themselves and with the environment. This proposal is compati-
ble with a family of similar proposals: Dual-Aspect Monism (Vimal,
2008, 2010b, 2013), Triple Aspect Monism (Pereira Jr., 2013, 2014) and
Triple-Aspect Monistic Model (Cacha & Poznanski, 2014).
5. 6. Recoherent Macrostates and Qualitative Conscious Episodes
In open nonequilibrium systems, when entropy decreases the mechanism
of Order through Fluctuations (Nicolis & Prigogine, 1977; Prigogine,
1977) allows the strong emergence of new QMS. Additionally, under the
operation of adequate information integration mechanisms, the system
can evolve to a “coherent macrostate”, here called recoherent, following
the use of the term by Chin et al. (2013), de Ponte et al. (2010) and Hsiang
and Ford (2008). Recoherence may be also related to the temporal overlap
implied by Heisenberg uncertainty (Chris Nunn, personal communica-
tion). Such overlaps may quantitatively map (if the ‘right’ clock time
duration is assumed) wavy classical events in the brain, resulting in reco-
herence in the sense of temporal binding.
In view of the diversity of interpretations of QM (Schreiber, 1995), the
concept of recoherence is possibly not compatible with the Copenhagen
view, because the latter is based on the problematic Interactive Substance
Dualism and/or Idealism. Furthermore, in the Copenhagen interpreta-
tion the superposed eigen-states are conceived as all possible potential n
basis states, each with theoretical probability of 1/n and the sum of all
probabilities is 1. This idea may be useful in the context of the decoher-
ence/segregation process, for the analysis of a single dimensional attrib-
ute (such as redness) of a sub-modal attribute (such as color) of a modal
attribute (such as vision) via matching and selection of a specific dimen-
sional attribute (Vimal, 2010b). In our approach to recoherence, we use
the concept of hypermatrix/hypertensor, where each diagonal element
has probability equal to one, and their integrations/entanglements/
integrations are represented in off-diagonal elements.
Brain recoherent macrostates are formed by means of the operation of
quantum computing gates within ionic waves, and can be expressed by a
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hypermatrix (or hypertensor), corresponding to the binding of qualitative
features in one integrated conscious episode. Once formed, the ionic
waves feedback on brain activity, similarly to David Bohm’s “pilot wave”.
One could argue that his guiding wave (implicate order) is not material;
matter appears only when the continuous wave acts in discrete ways
(explicate order). In addition, one could argue that an implicate order and
an explicate order states are dual-aspect states, where the degree of the
dominance of aspects may vary depending on the level of order. We can
use Bohm’s interpretation to conceptualize the recoherence process,
although it has its own problems (Schreiber, 1995). Recently, a series of
experiments have proven the possibility of a “pilot wave” producing
quantum effects in macroscopic systems (Bush, 2014; Bush et al., 2014; Oza
et al., 2014; Oza et al., 2014).
Conscious episodes are not made of one single quality, as “redness”.
They are made of many qualities bound to each other. Each quality is
determined by a decoherence process (all eigenstates being reduced to
one in the act of “measurement”), but this product is an unconscious QMS
located at some region of the primary sensory areas. In neuroscience, this
is called segregation of attributes for analysis in specific brain areas, such
as V4/V8/VO visual areas for color. A conscious episode requires the
binding of this quality with many others.
In the nervous system of living individuals, including the human
brain, the instantiation of macrostates is spatially distributed and uncon-
scious. The formation of conscious episodes requires the formation of a
recoherent collection of these macrostates. When all necessary conditions
of consciousness (such as activation of neural-networks, wakefulness,
reentry, attention, activation integration, working memory, stimulus
contrast at or above threshold, and potential experiences embedded in
the neural network) are satisfied, a recoherent state (corresponding to a
conscious episode) emerges, from a collection of nonconscious QMS
instantiated in spatially distributed neural circuits.
Brain recoherent macrostates result from the activity of entropy
reducers, as ion channels and proteins composing intracellular signal
transduction pathways. These mechanisms possibly instantiate quantum
computing gates (Freitas-da-Rocha et al., 2001; Rocha et al., 2005). The
operation of these gates form recoherent states, by means of information-
ally integrating a collection of QMS. Also Tononi proposed an information
integration theory of consciousness, where ‘consciousness corresponds to
the capacity of a system to integrate information’ (Tononi, 2004). In
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addition, the experiential aspect of consciousness has two key properties
(Tononi, 2004):
(i) The differentiation, which is the availability of a very large number of
conscious subjective experiences (SEs);
(ii) The integration, which is the unity of such experiences. The material-
istic identity theory-based Integrated Information Theory (IIT)
(Balduzzi & Tononi, 2009; Tononi, 2004, 2008, 2012) explains only the
objective Third Person Perspective (3pp)-physical aspect of a brain-
mind state (corresponding to the physical aspect of reality) because
the explanatory gap problem still remains. IIT can be developed in
our Multi-Aspect Monist framework to explain the First Person
Perspective mental aspect of brain–mind states (Vimal, 2009a,
2010c).
The recoherent macrostate as a whole would correspond to the bind-
ing of qualitative features in one integrated conscious episode available in
the first person perspective for the living individual. It can be described
by means of a hypermatrix or hypertensor with nonzero diagonal and
off-diagonal terms, where each diagonal term corresponds to a macro
quality.
Let us take the simple example of a ‘rightward moving red ball’ to
explain the coherence, decoherence and recoherence phases related to
processes in physics (out there in real world), neurophysiology (in our
brain) and reflected in psychology (in our mind). The three phases
related to the ‘rightward moving red ball’ and their processing are briefly
elaborated as follows:
(i) The coherence phase consists of light reflected from the ‘rightward
moving red ball’ out there in real physical world, which has coherent
physical information related to motion, color (long wavelength light)
and spherical shape; the density matrix has three diagonal terms and
six nonzero off-diagonal interference terms and hence information is
in coherent and integrated form in physical domain out there in real
world;
(ii) In the decoherence phase, the information encoded in wavelength
and intensity of light is transduced by retinal cone photoreceptors
into electrochemical signals and then segregated/decohered through
processing further in retinal and LGN cells, and then specialized
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cortical areas V5/MT for motion, V8/V4/VO for color, and multiple
areas (such as STS-MT, FST, FEF, PFC and so on: (Sereno et al., 2002)
for shape. This is done in neurophysiological domains. In each spe-
cialized area, such as V8/V4/VO for color, the interference off-
diagonal terms of diagonal terms of density matrix are destroyed to
zero by anatomical/physiological segregation (we call it decoher-
ence); only the diagonal terms representing the various potential
color-experiences (such as redness, greenness, blueness, and so on)
remain. Then, a specific QMS (such as redness of red ball) is selected
through the matching and selection mechanisms (Vimal, 2010b).
Similarly, a specific experience for rightward motion and roundness
for shape are selected;
(iii) The three attributes, namely rightward motion, redness, and
roundness, need to be integrated/bound for a unified experience/
consciousness of ‘rightward moving red ball’ in the recoherence
phase. There are many models for this, such as 40 Hz synchrony (Aru
et al., 2012; Engel & Singer, 2001; Singer, 1999), microtubule-based
quantum operators (Hameroff & Penrose, 1996, 1998; Hameroff &
Powell, 2009) and quantum antennas in astroglial calcium waves
(Pereira Jr., 2012). This recoherence phase constructs, by means of the
binding/integration process, the 1pp-mental aspect of our brain-mind
state and its inseparable 3pp-physical aspect. They appear as a con-
scious episode having the ‘rightward moving red ball’ as the content.
The diagonal and off-diagonal terms of hypermatrix/hypertensor are
reconstructed by the recoherence process.
Here there are three QMS: redness, rightward motion and roundness
of ball. An unified/integrated experience of these three qualities is
obtained by inserting them along the diagonal of a hypermatrix; in this
example, a 3 × 3 matrix. The off-diagonal six terms of this hypermatrix
contain the interaction/entanglement of the two of the three diagonal
terms; for example, the off-diagonal term (1, 2) is the interaction/entan-
glement of redness and rightward motion; the term (1, 3) is the interac-
tion/entanglement of the redness and roundness of ball; and (2, 3) is the
interaction/entanglement of the rightward motion and roundness of ball,
and so on.
The probability of each of the terms of hypermatrix is p = 1. Thus, a
hypermatrix represents all possible experiences of ‘rightward moving
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red ball’ with single or double attributes at a time, but not more than
two, and does not represent (1, 2, 3)-interaction together simultaneously.
This, however, can be represented using a hypertensor with 3rd order
tensor. If there are n attributes, then a Nth order tensor may be necessary
to represent them.
The concept of recoherence is also different from Hameroff (2014).
He believes that the collapse of the wave function generates a conscious
state; however, collapse/decoherence, being a move towards higher
entropy, would generate mostly unconscious states. The recoherence
process after the decoherence phase generates the conscious state.
In sum, the conscious perception of a scene can be understood as
containing the following steps. First, photonic fields in the environment
decohere when they meet the eye or another sensor. Several photonic
fields reach different sensory modalities at the same time. In each sensory
cortex there is an unconscious qualitative pattern (color, smell, sound,
etc.) being formed. These patterns are instantiated in dendritic fields and
communicated to other neurons by means of action potentials, astroglial
ionic waves and eventually electric synapses and dendro-dendritic con-
nections. A conscious episode is experienced when all these features dis-
tributed in the brain bind, forming a “gestalt’. The recoherence process
corresponds to the formation of this ‘gestalt’ and to the experience of a
conscious episode. This expression depends on causal factors, such as physi-
cal forces, to occur, but the resulting patterns are not determined by these
factors; they are determined by the mode of combination (e.g., matching,
fusion, interference) of the elementary patterns.
Mechanisms of matching, resonance, selection and integration oper-
ate to define conscious episodes. In matching processes, unconscious
qualities interact, interfere, cancel, inhibit or amplify each other. In reso-
nant processes, when the matching is positive the amplification makes
possible for a quality to be widespread in the system. In selection pro-
cesses, the dominant qualities are selected to compose a conscious epi-
sode. In integration processes, the selected qualities are “entangled” to
form a gestalt containing the qualities in an integrated multimodal scene.
To sum up, the stimulus-dependent (or endogenous) feed forward (FF)
signals interact with cognitive feedback (FB) signals (Vimal, 2010b); then
resonance, selection, and integration of qualities/proto-experiences
occur; and finally a unified/bound/integrated/recohered global whole
is consciously experienced.
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In the theoretical context of current systems theory, we use the con-
cept of metastability (Scott Kelso, 2013) to characterize the global dynamics
of the brain:
(a) The local decoherence (through density matrix) would correspond
to the segregation phase of metastability (an expression of brain-
complexity that reach the maximum when the balance between
segregation and its complement integration is achieved);
(b) Global recoherent state (described with the use of a hypertensor)
would correspond to the synergic integration/binding phase of meta-
stable dynamics, and
(c) Superposed potential experiences would correspond to attractors in a
multistable landscape.
In such a dynamics, each recoherent macrostate alternates in a time
scale of nanoseconds with decoherent macrostates, but we consciously
perceive only the sequence of nanosecond recoherent states, which
appear to us in continuous chunks with the duration of at least one
second each.
5.7. Discussion
5.7.1. On emergence
There are many models for emergence (Bedeau, 1997; Broad, 1925;
Chalmers, 2006; Fingelkurts et al., 2010a, 2010b; Freeman, 1999; Freeman &
Vitiello, 2011; Kim, 1999; McLaughlin, 1992; Seager, 2010, 2012). However,
in all this literature the strong emergence of QMS is conceived as deriv-
ing only from the physical aspect of nature, or from the physiological
aspect of brain activity. In our approach, the emergence of conscious SEs
(and respective ‘qualia’) is not properly from the material aspect of reality,
but from the interaction of a collection of potential qualitative aspects
of EW. This interaction process occurs in time, during the life history of
complex macroscopic systems such as the living ones.
Materialist reductionist approaches make a category mistake in this
regard, because the qualitative aspect belongs to an ontological category
that is different from the material aspect. Our proposal of strong emer-
gence of mental qualities in macro systems does not make the same
category mistake, and is less mysterious than materialist emergentism.
Materialists (Fingelkurts et al., 2010a, 2010b) claim that mental qualities
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emerge irreducibly from nonexperiential nonmental matter, such as inter-
acting neural signals; however, the same authors implicitly assume that
matter does not have potentiality for mentality. This type of materialistic
strong emergence (that still persists today) falls under ‘magic/miracle’
theory and is ultimately mysterious.
We claim that mental qualitative states emerge irreducibly from
interacting potential qualitative building blocks; this needs further
research to clarify the ‘modus operandi’, but it is less mysterious. For
example, mixing appropriate amounts of redness related long wave-
length and greenness related middle wavelength lights results in yellow-
ness (Vimal et al., 1987); however, our experience of yellowness is
irreducible to redness and greenness. Strong emergence is claimed to halt
scientific investigation (Seth, 2010), as if some vital life force acts to create
novel attributes in a miraculous manner (Allen, 2005), or by being incom-
patible with empirical investigation and mechanistic explanation (Branch-
Smith, 2014). Vimal (2013) claims for the possibility of unpacking strong
emergence, assuming the potentiality of SEs in Nature, as well as the
operation of brain matching and selection mechanisms (Vimal, 2010b)
that select a specific conscious experience from the potential/possible
experiences.
In the classical Kinetic Theory of Matter (Boltzmann, 1896/1964), the
probability of a macrostate (P(Mi)) is given by the number of microstates
that can generate it. The Boltzmann probabilistic concept of entropy
increase states that more probable macrostates are more stable and less
probable macrostates are more unstable; therefore, once a system sponta-
neously reaches a probable macrostate it remains longer time in this state
than when it reaches a less probable microstate. Considering that some
regions of the universe as our planet are in a low entropy state, the ten-
dency of natural systems in these regions is to evolve towards the most
stable states.
Boltzmann´s approach was based on the methodological assumption
of systemic closure. When taking into consideration open systems as liv-
ing organisms and their brains, three complementary principles should be
taken into consideration: Interaction, Basic Emergence and Co-Evolution.
(I) Principle of Interaction (PI): interactions between N systems modu-
late the probability of their macrostates. PI makes possible for open
systems receiving fluxes of useful energy from the environment to
evolve towards low entropy states, when the second principle
operates.
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26 A. Pereira Jr., R. L. P. Vimal & M. Pregnolato
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(II) Principle of Basic Emergence (PBE): when two or more N systems
interact regularly, instable macrostates may become stable, allowing
the emergence of new macrostates. One possible explanation for
PBE is that when two or more systems interact, the resulting state
space expands more than the entropy of the resulting mega-system
(the system formed by the union of the interacting systems).
(III) Principle of Coevolution (PC) of potential mental and physical aspects.
Since a microstate is a dual-aspect state, both (potentially mental and
physical) aspects strongly emerge into dual-aspect macrostates.
The idea of coevolution has similarities and differences in regard to
the ancient Vedic account of reality. One common idea is that the universe
(or multiverse) does not evolve from nothingness (Boyer, 2014a), and one
difference is that we assume Elementary Waveforms (EW) as potential
states that evolve to actual states, while Boyer (2014b) assumes the exist-
ence of a full Universal Mind or Universal Consciousness at the founda-
tions, from which all aspects of reality are derived.
Another theoretical possibility is combining Emergentism with
Panpsychism (Seager, 2012). This idea seems to be counter-intuitive,
since the idea of emergence implies that the conscious mind — as we
know it — would depend on the actualization of an aspect of Nature that
previously existed only in potential states. In other words, Emergentism
seems to imply that before the necessary and sufficient conditions for
consciousness appeared in some spatiotemporal regions of the universe
there was no actual conscious mind. However, if a distinction of degrees
of mentality is made, allowing nonbiological signaling to count as mental
activity, Seager’s claim would not be false.
Furthermore, combinatorial infusion (Seager, 2010) is a sort of dia-
chronic strong emergence, because infusion mysteriously entails (i) the
loss of constituents’ properties, (ii) and then the emergence of a novel
property. In other words, the parts/constituents infuse their properties
into the whole and by so doing efface themselves (Seager, 2010) consis-
tently with the diachronic strong emergence, which is a sort of jargon to
hide our ignorance.
5.7.2. Explanatory power of foundational theories
One could argue that foundational approaches as in string theory lack
predictive power. The spatial scale between strings and QM is too large,
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and it is unclear how elementary particles and QM can be derived from
string theory.
Although the spatial scales are far distant, there is a degree of
self-similarity (Flanagan, 2003). However, one could argue that the
self-similarity between strings vibrating in complex six-dimensional com-
pacted spaces and Ca++ waves (or whatever) in 3D extended space as well
as attributing some sort of physical reality to strings are debatable, as
chains of physical causation would be needed for any meaningful
mapping to occur. The disparities of scale and dimensionality make any
such implications problematic at best (Nunn, personal communication
in 2014).
We argue that the idea of our model is more complex. It is not a
direct mapping. The becoming process of reality leading from strings to
conscious states should have at least four stages:
(i) Vibrating strings in potential states;
(ii) Coherent quantum wave functions, where a collection of potential
strings is superposed and entangled;
(iii) Decoherent macrostates, where the collection of strings is actual-
ized into a system macrostate with material (interacting particles)
and informational (forms that can be transmitted to other systems)
aspects. Unconscious brain states are included in this category;
(iv) Recoherent macrostates that occur in systems as the living brain,
where a collection of decoherent macrostates is bound into a con-
scious episode.
Furthermore, we note that a characteristic of the conceptual model is
that each step transition involves strong emergence; therefore, one prob-
ably cannot be mathematically deduced from with other. This idea seems
consistent with the failure of derivation of (a) elementary particles from
string theory and (b) experiences from qualitative or physical aspects of
strings, elementary particles, and classical objects.
However, one could still argue that ‘strong emergence’ is just a jargon
for hiding our ignorance or that we are using strong emergence because
we do not know the underlying mechanism at present time.
On the other hand, one could also argue that strong emergence is not
based on ignorance, but it occurs because the system is not fully determin-
istic. In an interacting system with degrees of freedom, each subsystem
influences the others (as in Poincaré`s three-body problem); there is a
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28 A. Pereira Jr., R. L. P. Vimal & M. Pregnolato
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meeting of independent causal lines, as in Cournot’s concept of chance
(Lungarzo & Pereira, 2009); as these lines are not previously coordinated,
the outcome cannot be calculated. Another important fact is that the result-
ing state space of interacting subsystems is the product of their state spaces;
there is a combinatorial explosion generating potentially infinite possibili-
ties, as in human language (potentially infinite sentences from a finite
alphabet).
5.7.3. Quantum fi elds and perceptual states
Do SEs (secondary qualities) reside (pre-exist) in fundamental physics?
For instance, in one of the extra dimensions of string theory or in the
‘hidden’ variables of QM, being projected in our 4D (x, y, z, t) conscious
episodes? This is in analogy to the projection of a 3D sphere on 2D space.
This projection can be conceived:
(i) As SEs embedded in relevant neuro-networks as proto-experiences
(pre-cursors of SEs) and then specific SE selected via matching and
selection mechanisms (Vimal, 2010b) and/or
(ii) By means of an extension of the projection concept used in the
“Quantum-like” paradigm proposed by (Khrennikov & Basieva, 2014).
In other words, one of the possible answers of the question “where do
SEs come from?” is that they can presumably come from one (or more)
of the extra curled up dimensions of string theory as projections.
Moreover, the mass of a neuron is derived to be of the order of Planck
mass and the brain vibration (∼12 Hz) and Planck vibration can be
described by the same second order Schrödinger equation (Marciak-
Kozłowska & Kozlowski, 2014). In addition, (Chang, 2014) proposes that:
(i) the double helix DNA is analogue with an entangled string;
(ii) biological strings such as DNA, biological macromolecules, neurons,
RNA, genes, proteins, and even sperms can be described by the
superstring and the extensive string theory;
(iii) biological strings such as various loops and neural networks of living
things may be described by closed string;
(iv) in biological self-organized systems, such as the permeable membrane,
the enzyme, adenosine triphosphats (ATP), and so on, the complexity
and bio-information increase and entropy decrease.
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Furthermore, (a) the encoding of uncertainty in cognitive systems by
superpositions of eigenstates, as a quantum(-like) approach to cognition
(Khrennikov & Basieva, 2014), can be used in the decoherence or segrega-
tion phase for the analysis of specific attributes (such as color, motion, and
shape) locally; such superpositions are resolved by a measurement that
involves interactions between FF and FB signals using matching and
selection mechanisms (Vimal, 2010b); and (b) the concept of superposition
and the concept of generalized quantum observables given by positive
operator-valued measures (POVMs) with interferences between localized
diagonal terms representing segregated analyzed attributes (such as
color, motion, and shape) (Khrennikov & Basieva, 2014) can be used in
the recoherence or integration phase where localized micro-experiences
are integrated using hypertensor for the generation of unified macro
global conscious episode (such as the unified experience of ‘rightward
moving red spherical ball’ in our example).
Objects of our perception invariably include places, times, and sec-
ondary qualities in combination (5D: x, y, z, t, experience); here a primary
quality is, for example, a wavelength of light (such as 650 nm) and the
related secondary quality is its correlated experience (redness), which is
the effect of the primary quality of things on the senses (Flanagan, 2003).
This is a sort of consistent with Flanagan’s (2003) proposal, which seems
to imply that the secondary qualities (such as experience redness) may
reside in one or more of the M-theory’s curled up compactified (ultra-
small) 6_spatial+1_brane extra-dimensions, along which strings latent/
hidden/invisible to us from 3pp, this is in analogy to Kaluza–Klein 5D
proposal.
According to Flanagan (2003), “we can make a natural mapping from
the spectral colors to a color sphere…such a mapping could be made with
red, green and blue for the axes of a unit sphere in Hilbert space. We could
then easily map those color vectors to the photonic vectors with which
they are associated, remembering that these ‘physical’ vectors recapitulate
the mathematics of colors under vector addition and multiplication. Then,
any operation upon the photonic vector would naturally correspond to a
rotation of the color vector, in a direct analogy with the mathematics of
gauge theory and quantum theory generally”.
Brian Flanagan continues his conjecture: “If such a color sphere were
to ‘sit over’ every point in 4D space–time, that would seem to square with
the facts of our experience of the visual field and also perhaps with the
mathematics of string/M-theory, where a six-dimensional orbifold is
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30 A. Pereira Jr., R. L. P. Vimal & M. Pregnolato
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often pictured ‘sitting over’ every point in 4D space–time…we might
reflect on the fact that Calabi-Yau spaces are known to be projective
spaces, and to include the SU(3) group of the standard model…as Weyl
tells us, colors are isomorphic to the points of the projective plane… The
theory is called ‘chromo’ dynamics because quarks and gluons recapitu-
late the behavior of spectral colors…photons and gluons are both gauge
particles, and photons are continually associated with spectral color. So
we might defy convention and ask: Is color a kind of gauge information?”
(Flanagan, 2003).
Although possibly running against orthodox interpretations of quan-
tum theory, Flanagan´s conjecture converges to our proposal of looking
for potential qualia in the quantum domain.
5.7.4. Conscious mental causation
In the recoherent phase, once the pilot wave is formed it feeds back on the
system that generated it. This action can be regarded as the physical aspect
of the process of conscious mental causation, by which conscious experi-
ences influences decision-making, memory formation, somatic processes
and behavior.
How to physically describe this feedback? Here we do not attempt to
give a full explanation of the problem, but to indicate how our model
allows a treatment of this age-old issue.
In the calcium wave model of conscious processing (Pereira Jr. et al.,
2013), the integration-and-feeling operations that compose a conscious
episode is related to the formation of a large calcium wave in the brain,
which feeds back on the neural assemblies that generated it. This loop is
illustrated by the “Carousel Effect” (Fig. 1).
The philosophical question that remains is about the kind of physi-
cal process involved in the feedback relation. Of course, there is an
electromagnetic process, since moving ions are charged particles that
generate electric currents and are affected by electromagnetic forces.
However, the most relevant aspect would not be the matter or the energy,
but the information patterns, or — in philosophical terms — it would be
related to Aristotle’s concept of a formal cause. It is the form of the waves
that influence each other — the form of the spatially distributed uncon-
scious brain waves influence the form of the unitary conscious recoher-
ent wave, and then the form of the latter feeds back on the form of the
local waves.
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Fig. 1. (Color online) The Carousel Effect (from (Pereira Jr. & Furlan, 2010)): The
red circle represents a cycle of activity of a population of synchronized neurons,
while the mauve circle represents one large calcium wave in neuro-astroglial
domains. Each horse corresponds to a small local calcium wave. The coordination
of smaller waves, generating the large wave, is orchestrated by synchronized
neurons and feeds back on them (bidirectional arrows), independently of an
actual causal relation between the smaller waves.
This inter-influencing of the waves occur because they are not identical
or isomorphic; they are partially overlapping, but have important differ-
ences that make possible a dynamical “wave computing” process com-
posed of constructive interferences of amplitude-modulated ionic waves
combined with a degree of quantum entanglement (Pereira Jr., 2007, 2012).
5.8. Concluding Remarks: Has the Hard Problem Been Solved?
We argue that the Hard Problem can be convincingly solved by means of
the above sketched qualitative physics. Elementary Waveforms (EW) is
conceived as the primitive building blocks that dynamically combine, in
complex ways, to generate QMS. Qualities instantiated in unconscious
brain macrostates are integrated into conscious experiences, when a set
of conditions are fulfilled, as distance from thermodynamic equilibrium,
operation of biological self-organizing mechanisms and information inte-
gration by quantum gates.
Using this explanatory strategy, we can explain why some natural
systems have subjective conscious experiences, while others do not. The
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32 A. Pereira Jr., R. L. P. Vimal & M. Pregnolato
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progressive interaction of EW generate a complex state space, of which
some regions correspond to the first person conscious activity of living
individuals. The existence of these regions is derived from the potentiali-
ties of Elementary Waveforms (EW), in a strongly emergent process.
Other regions do not display conscious activity, because the necessary
conditions of consciousness (such as formation of neural-networks, wake-
fulness, reentry, attention, information integration, working memory,
stimulus contrast at or above threshold, and potential experiences embed-
ded in neural-network) for it are not satisfied.
The dynamical process above occurs in a temporal continuum. At
one side of the continuum, there are forms in a potential state. When
actualized, they compose physiochemical properties of substances and
processes. In the middle, there are forms in an intermediary stage, such
that they have mental but unconscious functions. At the other side,
there are forms actualized in conscious episodes experienced by a living
individual.
This proposal expresses a tendency of current approaches to con-
sciousness to abandon both Materialism and Idealism, as well as
Interactive Substance Dualism, moving towards Multi-Aspect Monisms
(Pereira Jr. et al., 2010; Pereira Jr., 2013, 2014; Vimal, 2008, 2010b, 2013).
Acknowledgments
Thanks to FAPESP (Alfredo P. Jr.), Roman Poznanski, Chris Nunn and
Sisir Roy for their valuable comments. RLP Vimal was supported by
VP-Research Foundation Trust, and Vision Research Institute and Dristi
Anusandhana Sansthana Research Funds. RLP Vimal is also affiliated
with Dristi Anusandhana Sansthana, A-60 Umed Park, Sola Road,
Ahmedabad-61, Gujrat, India; Dristi Anusandhana Sansthana, c/o
NiceTech Computer Education Institute, Pendra, Bilaspur, C.G. 495119,
India; and Dristi Anusandhana Sansthana, Sai Niwas, East of Hanuman
Mandir, Betiahata, Gorakhpur, U.P. 273001 India.
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