How Quantum Is Life? From Dissipation to Mind

BlackPrimate

The relevance of quantumness is mostly associated with computing. Yet, life’s relation to the quantum is equally profound. Connecting relativistic worldlines, thermodynamics, and temporal awareness, we focus on the functional role of entropy production—information or energy dissipation. Organic life can be viewed as a dissipative clock, in which decoherence underwrites a personal operational present linked to memory functions. No dissipation, means no clocks, and no life. Hence, our perception of time and sense of self are argued to be deeply influenced by quantum decoherence and dissipation. We further argue that the Pauli exclusion principle enables the existence of distinguishable objects, grounding both evolution and logic through the principle of noncontradiction. In short, life's quantumness differs in levels, but it is classical in operation.

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ShockwaveRider

Exceptions to the Pauli Exclusion Principle, such as Fractional Quantum Hall States and Fractional Electrons, have already been discovered, and are being explored.

BlackPrimate

ShockwaveRider That sounds very interesting, I need to delve deeper into that, thank you for the recommendation. Is this in any way related to work by Aharonov by chance, as these sound in a similar vein like the Quantum Cheshire Cat phenomenon which also implies quantum "fractionality", but maybe I am off here. Would love to know more!

RustKite

Thanks for your entry! Interesting approach and nicely written.

The essay proposes that decoherence creates our subjective experience of the present moment and resolves the relativity of simultaneity problem, but how does this account for the fact that decoherence happens continuously at different rates throughout the brain? Would this not create multiple, perhaps conflicting "present moments” rather than a single unified one? Or does our consciousness average this out somehow to give us our subjective experience of “now”?

BlackPrimate

RustKite Thank you for the nice comment, much appreciated! Concerning your question, "but how does this account for the fact that decoherence happens continuously at different rates throughout the brain?" I have to admit I am new to decoherence, and absolutely need to read more and study more specifically for all the details (Zeh and Zurek come to mind). Great question, for which I currently do not have an answer, as I feel both awareness and decoherence are kind of mystical phenomena to me. Of course it is a grand statement to make that they are related, but the research I have been able to do until now seems to point in such directions. I find it more compelling to seek it in a natural phenomenon, than something "virtual" as complexity or computation.

Maybe you could elaborate more on how you see decoherence happening at different rates, and how you would see this could account for a present moment, or even awareness - although that last bit is probably a far reach.

As I am only human, I do not pretend to know how to solve the problem of consciousness, although I think new efforts like these should and could be welcomed to stretch the mind to new options and possibilities, or opportunities and venues to explore. I tried to be rigorous and systematic, but your question seems like a fair point.

I also agree that I state that empirically it seems to be the case that we can conclude that decoherence seems to solve the relativity of simultaneity problem, as an observation, but how this works, I have no clue. As I said before, decoherence is new to me and I have barely touched the surface of this phenomenon.

If you have some literature you would like to recommend, that comes to mind befitting this subject, it would be much appreciated. So thanks you for your insightful comment, unfortunately, I do not have an answer (yet!).

There are two options I can imagine though, that could follow from my observation:
1) the coordinate time of the brain as a whole as an inertial frame determines the quantum fields foliation on which the proper time of the smaller signals propagate.
Or
2) decoherence is an operation on a fundamental, timeless quantum field that underlies the spacetime of our cosmological models, as in that general relativity somehow emerges from a foundational timeless quantum field.

Both of these options are pretty daring and out there, bordering on handwaving territory (or as some may callit , theoretical physics ;-) ).

What do you think? What are your ontological assumptions about space and time, and for that matter, of being?

BlackPrimate

RustKite I recall now that Wallace states in his book "The emergent multiverse" that decoherence propagates with the speed of light, and that consequently the supposed multiverse also decoheres or branches with the speed of light (into its separate worlds according to the Born rule). This is why I equated the light cone of decoherence to that of energy dissipation, as both (decoherence, and the photons of energy dissipation) move with the speed of light. This is a working assumption, for what can be seen in figure 2 of the "warm strand of spaghetti" i.e. the worldline that dissipates energy, and causes decoherence as well.

So my working hypothesis was that decoherence takes place with the speed of light; and not separate speeds.