Will Understanding Ourselves Help Us Understand Quantum Physics?
Or vis versa
Hiya!
I have a confession. I spent roughly 30 years or so telling myself a story. One that said I can’t understand math or science, that my brain doesn’t work that way, and these topics are for other, smarter people to enjoy—not me. Still, I’ve always been a highly curious person and created this newsletter to follow them without expectation. Initially, I assumed I’d focus mainly on topics like humanity and culture, history, nature, and maybe a bit of politics.
But as I let go of expectations, I noticed a pattern — science is at the root of most of my curiosities. In fact, science has become the foundation of both this newsletter and Curious Life. After realizing this, I recognized the story I’ve been telling myself for most of my life isn’t true.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that humanity and quantum physics have more in common than we might think. Now I can’t let go, and I need to know… am I nuts, or could there be more to this connection?
Nature Loves Repeating Itself
We humans are particularly good at recognizing patterns, but have you ever considered why? Neurological or evolutionary explanations aside, the most basic answer is that nature is bursting with patterns. They’re everywhere, and it’s through learning the patterns in nature — the sun rises and sets, seasons, migrations, and hibernation in animals, agriculture, etc. — that we humans dominated the planet.
But it’s more than that. There are patterns on small and large scales, patterns in math, in the arrangement of petals on a flower or bark on a tree. Some of these patterns are called fractals, which continue indefinitely, and many exist in several forms. Not to mention the infamous Fibonacci sequence.
Similarly, our neurons share a striking similarity to the cosmos. Astrophysicist Franco Vazza and neuroscientist Alberto Feletti state in a paper published in Frontiers in Physics:
“Although the relevant physical interactions in [the cosmos and the nuerons our brain] are completely different, their observation through microscopic and telescopic techniques have captured a tantalizing similar morphology, to the point that it has often been noted that the cosmic web and the web of neurons look alike.”
The point is, nature is a fan of patterns, and repeating and adapting ones that work for other systems. When you look beyond our anatomy, you’ll see that human nature is full of them. You could say that human behavior follows specific patterns of progress and civil unrest on a large scale.
But when examining us as individuals, we become much less predictable.
Does this remind you of any natural systems within nature? Perhaps physics? I mean, think about it, we can predict what the masses will do, but not an individual, just like we can expect what objects will do but not individual particles.
I’m Not Alone
Turns out, many experts want to know if there’s a connection between quantum physics and human consciousness, and some even conducted some studies to find out. Physicist Roger Penrose is most known for his 2020 Nobel Prize for predicting the existence of black holes, but before that, Penrose was more interested in studying consciousness.
In the 1990s, Penrose teamed up with anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff to study how consciousness might work within the brain. In 1998 they published a paper claiming that the neuron system within our brain creates an elaborate network of fractals (remember those?), which constructs consciousness — or is its framework — and that it should theoretically obey the rules of quantum mechanics. This concept is known as “quantum consciousness.”
More recently, Cristiane de Morais Smith, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Utrecht University, teamed up with Professor Xian-Min Jin at Shanghai Jiaotong University to take the first steps in finding out whether Penrose and Hameroff were on to something.
Technology hasn’t advanced enough since the 90s for experts to test the theory of quantum consciousness on people, but they can test it within a lab. So they did, and their most recent research indicates there may be a connection between consciousness and quantum physics—specifically in the way fractals in our brain behave on a quantum level. If the researchers’ findings hold true beyond the lab, then it has the potential to unite the fields of physics, mathematics, and biology in a way never conceived before.
Not Everyone Agrees
Given that we’re talking about science, there’s bound to be plenty of skepticism and pushback. Penrose and Hameroff have faced plenty of scrutiny for their ideas of quantum consciousness over the decades. In this case, there is actually a compelling argument leading most scientists to dismiss the concept entirely.
It has to do with one of the most fundamental laws of quantum mechanics— it requires extreme cold. It’s why quantum computers operate at a frigid -457 degrees Fahrenheit (-272 Celcius), whereas classical mechanics work at warmer temperatures.
Knowing this, the logical conclusion would be that between quantum or classical laws of physics, our consciousness would exist on a classic level because of the simple fact that we thrive at room temperature. In other words, their argument is the very fact that we live in warm temperatures means quantum physics can’t apply.
The temperature issue is a big one, but I’m not convinced it’s enough to dismiss the connection between quantum physics and consciousness. After all, temperature aside, it seems likely that quantum-mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement and superposition, would play a role in consciousness.
Besides, who says consciousness would belong strictly to one or the other? Isn’t it plausible that both quantum and classical mechanics play a role? Or biology and mathematics too? Could consciousness be a result of a combination of sciences?
Perspective Shift
This is all super interesting, albeit a tad confusing, but my initial curiosity goes further than whether physics plays a role in consciousness. I want to know if humanity mirrors particles.
We, humans, consist entirely of matter and energy. Physics studies how matter and energy—particles and waves— interact in various environments and in a natural state within a system. Similarly, sociology studies “the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of organized groups of human beings.”
Could there be a connection between human behavior and the behavior of particles?
I dunno. Maybe I’m crazy… but what if I’m not?
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Now check out the 4th dimension of water.