Consciousness arises in consciousness-experience molecular groups? Similar to photosynthetic photoactive systems?

A thought struck me while I read through the report from SOFTPEDIA on 'Quantum Physics Explains Photosynthesis' and I grabbed it. My mind connected their findings with what is mentioned in the paper by Jonathan CW Edwards of 'Is Consciousness Only a Property of Individual Cells?'

I read in Jonathan CW Edwards thesis that single neurones are responsible for bringing about consciousness,

"Integration of signals inside cells is complex and can mimic multiplication. It may involve patterns. Thus although it might be argued that binding in a cell poses the same problem as in a net of cells, it does not have to. What we know of the brain indicates that binding could not occur between cells linked by discrete signals but might occur in a cell. A sophisticated substrate might be needed in the cellular 'black box' but if patterns are involved at all, this would need to be the place."

and

" ... consciousness is a basic correlate of function, but a function that only certain fundamental physical substrates can subserve. To know the true function is to know the substrate."

Binding all the elements of information to bring about experience and consciousness is not a task performed by the brain as a unit, but by single neurones? Each neurone creates a version of consciousness? And this is due to a sophisticated substrate? To know the true function is to know the substrate, Jonathan CW Edwards declares.

What can this substrate be? Something similar to the photoactive systems in photosynthesis? As it is mentioned in the SOFTPEDIA entry on the quantum physics explanation of photosynthesis

I read there

"The 2-D electronic spectroscopy can detect the energy transfer between molecules that are grouped in photoactive systems, due to their similar electronic and vibrational states."

Molecules grouped in photoactive systems on the basis of similar electronic and vibrational states? Like the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) molecular complex, the team investigated?

"The team investigated the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) photosynthetic protein, a molecular complex in green sulphur bacteria. FMO is preferred in photosynthesis researches because of its simplicity: it is made of just seven pigment molecules."

A molecular complex of a number of molecules embedded in the cytoplasm of a neurone cell with the task of creating experience and consciousness? In the same way that is referred to about energy transfer processes in photosynthesis?

"We have obtained the first direct evidence that remarkably long-lived wavelike electronic quantum coherence plays an important part in energy transfer processes during photosynthesis," said Graham Fleming, the main researcher and professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley. "This wavelike characteristic can explain the extreme efficiency of the energy transfer because it enables the system to simultaneously sample all the potential energy pathways and choose the most efficient one."

A system that is extremely efficient in energy transfer as it simultaneously samples all the potential energy pathways and choose the most efficient one? Simultaneity required by consciousness as Jonathan CW Edwards, mentions

"Thus, the key functional requirement of consciousness, as I see it, is that something has simultaneous (cotemporal) access to many elements (of information) in defined inter-relationships (SAMEDI), i.e. access to a pattern".

referred to as the information problem

"The information problem is how to find a neurophysiological unit in the brain that could have access to many elements of information as a pattern; perhaps 1000 elements in a single experience."

Simultaneity incorporated in

"The team detected "quantum beating" signals, coherent electronic oscillations in both donor and acceptor molecules, induced by light energy excitations."

coherent electronic oscillations in a consciousness-experience molecular groups between donor and acceptor molecules, that as it has been detected in photosynthesis

"Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy detected on a femtosecond (1/1000 000 000 000 000 of a second) time-scale these oscillations meeting and how they interfered, building wavelike motions of energy (superposition states) that can experience all possible energy pathways at a time and reversibly, so that they can go back from incorrect pathways with no penalty."

by an ensuing superposition of states and by the interference of coherent oscillations instantiates consciousness-experience? The non-bitwise mode of integration? Mentioned by Jonathan CW Edwards.

"A non-bitwise mode of integration within cells is probably already supported by experimental evidence."

Wave-like coherence in the oscillations as mentioned by Gregory Engel in 'Quantum Physics Explains Photosynthesis' report,

"In these spectra, the lowest-energy exciton (a bound electron-hole pair formed when an incoming photon boosts an electron out of the valence energy band into the conduction band) gives rise to a diagonal peak near 825 nanometers that clearly oscillates. The associated cross-peak amplitude also appears to oscillate. Surprisingly, this quantum beating lasted the entire 660 femtoseconds."

"The duration of the quantum beating signals was unexpected because the general scientific assumption had been that the electronic coherences responsible for such oscillations are rapidly destroyed. For this reason, the transfer of electronic coherence between excitons during relaxation has usually been ignored," Engel said. "By demonstrating that the energy transfer process does involve electronic coherence and that this coherence is much stronger than we would ever have expected, we have shown that the process can be much more efficient than the classical view could explain."

Consciousness whole pattern processing regime?

Patterns. You bring along the whole pattern for consciousness to process. In units as it is mentioned in, 'Is consciousness only a property of individual cells?', by Jonathan CW Edwards,

"The second, which I will call the physical substrate, is that of finding a substrate at the fundamental physical level which might support a subjective experience in which many elements are bound into a seamless whole."

Many elements bound into a seamless whole! Each element is, in its turn and for its own accord, a seamless whole made out of or bound from its own specific elements, downscale as far as it is permitted by the granularity (?) of the physical world. Granules, as a general term referring to the size of the physical units possible? Up to quanta or strings?

As a seamless whole is presented to our consciousness as whole patterns and processed as such. All the information elements bound in the pattern, are dragged along, no matter how relevant they appear to be. Even if they are seemingly incompatible or contradict with one another.

Emergence? And its incompatibility pre-requisite for emergent properties to rise? The consciousness whole pattern processing allowing emergence to appear? Working towards achieving that goal?

A storm in my brain ?!!!

There is something there which I need to explore. More than explore, what I require to do, is elucidate further the thoughts triggered. I wonder how should I put it. It is about the mind's ability to quickly assess a situation, a state presented in front of you, and requires a fast and reliable solution. Though it is not strictly a problem, as much as a situation that requires a ready-made solution.

I am going around circling the matter I want to deal with, a brain-storm in anticipation of providing the solution and the words to describe it. In an attempt to generalize before even accessing the substance of the matter as such. States presented to us constantly requiring to be handled. Furtive states, in need for instantaneous solutions. You can not pause to think how to handle the situation, you have to act fast which brings it down to reflex actions. Reflex actions built by the accumulation of experience over the years. It is intrinsic within the solution necessary to calculate the movements needed to tackle the situation. Calculations done by using the raw power of your brain cells. No conscious handling. It takes too much time. Not counting one by one but in hundreds. Non-linear? Why the non-linear came to my mind? Does that mean anything? Gearing perhaps? Getting more from very little? Some sort of function where the output far exceeds the input?

It brings into my mind thoughts I expressed on the matter of nerve cells charting our surrounding space. And regarding the raw solving power our neurons possess.

....

The brain, as a quantum computer?

"A quantum computer is any device for computation that makes direct use of distinctively quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. In a classical (or conventional) computer, information is stored as bits; in a quantum computer, it is stored as qubits (quantum bits). The basic principle of quantum computation is that the quantum properties can be used to represent and structure data, and that quantum mechanisms can be devised and built to perform operations with this data."

If we assume that line, what are the possible configurations of information storage? The qubit equivalent? What are the quantum mechanisms that perform operations with this data? That the brain makes direct use of the distinct quantum mechanical phenomenon of superposition is evident as it is required to operate within a framework of multiple potential states, simultaneously existing, without any distinct preference or indication of any, out of these states, being prevalent, superposed one upon the other, before the collapse of its wavefunction by an observer, which singles out one particular state, which acts as an effector in the actions an individual undertakes and thus determines the individual's behaviour.

What about entanglement? How can it be visualised? Entanglement of particles. Quantum particles. Quantum particles can be interpreted from the point of view of chaotically driven processes as attractors. Chaotic mechanisms, the brain is involved, produces attractors which direct an individual's behaviour. These attractors can be assumed equivalent to quantum particles, and these presumably would represent the entities engaged in entanglement. Entanglement represents non-local, (oh hell!), interactions between similar quantum particles with instantaneous sharing of information. Acting like pairs, entangled pairs. Likewise, attractors developed in the brain of human individuals interact non-locally with attractors developed in the brains of other individuals? A candidate explanation of ESP phenomena? Extra sensory perception effected by entanglement?

Human individual, a quantum mechanical entity?

Human individual to be regarded as a quantum mechanical entity? The embodiment of a quantum mechanical entity its superposition of states. States in which the individual finds itself in, a multitude of states and the collapse of its wave function into a single state, become determining in the life of the individual, by effecting actions when it is required. Followed up, by its entry into a new superposition of states till another collapse will bring about the emergence of another single state to deal again with the multitude of situations, any individual finds itself in, in the course of its daily life.

Quantum mechanics and chaos do not exclude one another. Whereas quantum mechanics draws attention in the states and the description of these states, chaos refers to the processes which are responsible for these states. It is interesting this mixture of quantum mechanics and chaos, and above all this transference of the quantum mechanics adherents to describe situations of macroscopic environments.

Analysing each particular feature of quantum mechanical models and applying the doctrines to other systems and examine these systems from that particular prism, it would probably produce insights which will elucidate further the phenomena observed.

By talking about superposition of states, should bear in mind that the states are defined by their constituent variables and parametres, therefore multiple states existing simultaneously refer to the values of variables and parametres. The values of variables and parametres are not fixed, but rather fluctuate. As a superposition itself does not imply infinite states, simply multiple states, therefore the values of variables and parametres would not have infinite range, simply ranges which will ensure multiple states. This agrees with the parametric development of chaotic states.

Oh heck! What is that thought that entered my mind. Observation as the reason for the collapse of the wave function of the quantum mechanical superposition of states of a human individual. Observation, the act to effect the collapse comes from other individuals. As a human individual is observed by other individuals, this observation brings the collapse into its single state. Now this single state, out of the superposed multiple states, is determined by the observer. The observed individual collapses its wave function to that of the observing individual. This can explain the overriding effect of acting as expected by the observing individual. It goes along with the observer influences the observed. This should be counteracted by a subsequent observation from the observed individual, the observed becomes the observer and therefore affects the wave function collapse of the initial observer. These actions must provide grounds for explaining rules of conduct.

The individual can not help but act according to what is expected by the individual who have effected the collapse of its wavefunction in the first place? Therefore we act as it is expected? The single state out of the superposition of states that the wavefunction collapses to is the state that the observer determines?

Would the mind know but would not tell?

The right questions asked and the answers are given. The mind works regardless whether the individual is aware of it or not. So therefore the mind as it is proclaimed here:

"Popper and Eccles (1977) and Margenau (1984) have also discussed the possibility of quantum reduction being dependent on the mind of the observer, leading to the paradox of Wigner's friend in which an observer's friend splits the wave function, and reports on the result."

reduce the wave packet and the information gained is used to effect things happening in the environs of the individual that splits the wave function. To achieve knowledge about the processes involved, a mind has to assault the item to be known, armed with an arsenal of ever more detailed concepts, probe deep, analyze minute processes, put forward questions, in structured sentences, in seek for an answer. And the mind provides the answer. The mind makes use of the brain's quantum machinery.

The collective human mind, in collaboration, managed to accumulate a lot of information. It has constructed models of the way nature works, as well as, how the mind works. Constructed attractors act like a magnet's poles, to thoughts and ideas in the minds of individuals, in a similar manner as the same authors mention here:

"An excitable cell or neurosystem which evolved initially to achieve constrained optimization through chaotic fluctuation, could thus also display a new type of predictive modeling through non-local quantum interactions. Predictive optimization may thus have driven the evolution of the excitable cell and subsequently a structurally-unstable chaotic brain in which consciousness and free-will become direct manifestations of the quantum non-locality underlying membrane and brain-function."

The individual coaxed towards achieving deeper understanding. Of its mind's inner workings? Our consciousness a wave front wandering amidst the swirl of intertwining folds of processes, becomes trapped in isolated regions oblivious of all other regions. Its location determined by a handful of thoughts and ideas it aspires to. A matter of will, but will which is largely determined by the prevalent ideas in the social environment it finds itself in.

The idea of observation and collapse in our daily lives. In the anticipation of forthcoming events. Representing the unknown factor. The indeterminate nature of things to come, in a superposition of states. A macroscopic equivalent mirroring the microscopic events unraveling in the quantum realm.

Is there a genetic predisposition to the things we draw our attention to? There is a lot of hubris in the lives of individuals, which affects what we draw our attention to, from what actually should pay attention to. Certainly, an individual's sensory apparatus can not sense everything that lies around us, exacerbated by lack of detailed knowledge, of information, for what lies around us. What determines that we would actually pay attention to, from all the possibilities presented to us, is strongly connected with emotions and feelings. Interdependent and bi-directional pathways, either influence emotions or our emotional make-up influence what we will pay attention to.

Tractable and intractable computations human individuals are faced with.

In an uncanny manifestation, as I would call it for the lack of a better word available in my mind right now, sources unraveled before me, without a consciously prepared plan, only to lead me, almost effortlessly, to a sought after solution of a nagging problem. One seemingly intractable problem, in personal terms, on the grounds of the unyielding amount of operations in the process of arriving to a satisfactory solution.

Similar with what I mentioned in that post, the anticipation built-in in the firing sequences of neuron groups, with the additional element of intractable problems. Does that go beyond a simple immediate future anticipation? To processes connected to situations where ever ready, constantly on standby, lingering bifurcations sweep away the thoughts toward new, concluding attractors or falling under the influence of powerful trajectories of all-surpassing, universal attractors? As for example the attractor-notion of knowledge already there, awaiting your mind's arrival? Severely cutting down the number, by-passing unyielding operations? Arriving to a solution sooner?

Computational problems can be "efficiently solvable" or "tractable" or "intractable" as they would require a huge amount of operations, at least n^1000000 (n to the power of 1 million), as it is mentioned here,

"P is often taken to be the class of computational problems which are "efficiently solvable" or "tractable", although there are potentially larger classes that are also considered tractable such as RP and BPP. Also, there exist problems in P which are intractable in practical terms; for example, some require at least n^1000000 (n to the power of 1 million) operations."

These are the kind of problems human individuals face in life situations as it is mentioned in "Fractal Neurodynamics and Quantum Chaos: Resolving the Mind-Brain Paradox Through Novel Biophysics", in Chapter 6.1, The Computational Intractability of Survival in the Open Environment.,

"The principal task of the brain is to compute the survival strategy most likely to enable the organism to evade death and produce viable offspring. A computational problem is intractable if the number of computational steps required grows super-exponentially with the complexity of the problem. The traveling salesman problem (Bern & Graham 1989), finding the shortest route round n cities illustrates this, growing with (n-1)! A problem may also be formally undecidable in the sense of Gödel. Many adaption-survival problems in the open environment share the characteristics of intractable problems, because each strategy tends to be matched by a competing strategy in another organism and the number of options rapidly exponentiates. An active organism must also complete a processing task within 0.1-1 second if it is going to have survival utility, regardless of its complexity. Such arguments make it clear why parallel processing is an integral feature of vertebrate nervous systems."

In each step in our modern lives, though no different in real terms with the lives of human individuals in any era in human history for that matter, we are required to make decisions about effectively intractable problems. The human individual has largely managed to tackle successfully the computational problems associated with survival, and it did so by utilising our brain's chaotic potential. Thanks to our innate ability to engage and utilise chaotic processes led to the establishment of numerous attractors, providing solutions for many problems. Attractors manifesting in numerous forms and shapes, tangible and intangible, matter-transforming or social and mental constructions, tools in the constant grappling with nature, while at the same time continuously transforming into new shapes and forms.