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Can We Feel What It’s Like to Be Quantum?
Underground experiments in the heart of the Italian mountains are testing the links between consciousness and collapse theories of quantum physics.
FQXi Administrator Josh Hoffman wrote on Feb. 7, 2022 @ 19:40 GMT
We introduce an information measure that reflects the intrinsic perspective of a receiver or sender of a symbol, who has no access to the communication channel and its source or target. The measure satisfies three desired properties — causality, specificity, intrinsicality — and is shown to be unique. Causality means that symbols must be transmitted with probability greater than chance. Specificity means that information must be transmitted by an individual symbol. Intrinsicality means that a symbol must be taken as such and cannot be decomposed into signal and noise. It follows that the intrinsic information carried by a symbol increases if the repertoire of symbols increases without noise (expansion) and decreases if it does so without signal (dilution). An optimal balance between expansion and dilution is relevant for systems whose elements must assess their inputs and outputs from the intrinsic perspective, such as neurons in a network. The measure and its implications are discussed in the context of the integrated information theory of consciousness.
Georgina Woodward wrote on Feb. 9, 2022 @ 00:10 GMT
It says in the video that the observer is emergent from the measurement. I think that language is a little unclear. (in real life rather than graph paper) what is emergent is the observation; the conscious experience of the seen event. An 'element of consciousness'. Whereas the observer, material being, exists independently of what is and isn't observed. As a noumenal, Object reality. This is a linguistic problem. The word 'observer' alone does not distinguish between the mental impression of being the one who observes, and association of that to a physical body. The dictionary definitions of 'observer' I have just seen talk of 'a person'. It is unclear if 'person' means the mental or physical entity. Though it is usual to think of a person as a human being (with both body and consciousness).