Consciousness and Bose-Einstein condensates


Author: I.N. Marshall

Affiliation: Bowden House Clinic, London Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex HA1 3JL, U.K.
Conference/Journal: New Ideas in Psychology
Date published: 1989
Other:
 Volume ID: 7   ,  Issue ID: 1   ,  Pages: 73-83   ,  Word Count: 82  
    What kind of physical structure could most plausibly be associated with consciousness? It is argued from the unity and complexity of states of consciousness that no classical physical system could play the role. Among quantum systems a Bose-Einsteincondensate has the right properties. The brain probably contains one and only one system of this kind—a pumped phonon system described by Fröhlich—which is hypothesized to be the substrate of human consciousness. Some experimental tests and implications of the hypothesis are discussed.