Högskolan i Skövde

This chapter first contrasts the classical worldview (deterministic, reductionist, and mechanistic) with that of quantum theory (indeterministic, contextual, and holistic). The working hypothesis is that quantum features may help explain aspects of consciousness that classical neuroscience struggles with. The chapter then reviews several major quantum interpretations and their connection to consciousness. First, the Copenhagen interpretation and QBism, which hold that the wave function represents knowledge or subjective beliefs, not objective reality. Second, Wigner’s view that consciousness is required to collapse the wave function, turning superpositions into definite outcomes. Third, the reverse idea by Penrose and Hameroff that collapse constitutes consciousness, in that objective gravitational collapse of quantum states (Orch OR) in neural microtubules underlies conscious moments. Fourth, the pilot wave interpretation, in which no collapse is needed; instead, in Bohm’s version, ‘active information’ in pilot waves guides particles and provides the intrinsically mental ground from which consciousness may emerge. And fifth, Everett’s many-worlds interpretation, according to which no collapse is needed and the world divides into branches at the macroscopic level in measurement-like situations; here, some researchers have linked conscious experience to superposition formation. The chapter concludes by briefly considering some related applications of quantum theory, such as quantum biology and quantum cognition.