Dear Jonathan J. Dickau

I believe that the connection between quantum mechanics and the brain mechanics are very interesting. I'll suggest you to read works of Fortunato Tito Arecchi (see for instance link:http://www.solvayinstitutes.be/Activities/Workshop_Bits-Quanta/Talks/30-04/P21_Arecchi.pdf]link[\link] and citations thereby).

Best regards,

Donatello

    Thanks for the well wishes, Joseph, Peter, James, Yuri, Alan, and Donatello!

    I apologize to all of my readers for being away from these forums so long. I have been dealing with some difficult matters on the home front, so I have not had very much time to read and comment. I still hope to read about a dozen more papers, and to comment where there is something important to say.

    I may make a few remarks about comments above, but this bit of writing happens before that. I wish everyone the best of luck, and I intend to check back here more frequently, between now and midnight tomorrow, for last minute comments and questions. Thanks again to all!

    Regards,

    Jonathan

      Thanks Joseph,

      I can report that Jill Taylor actually wrote a thoughtful note back when I e-mailed her speaking of this essay, among other things. But some of the insights in her book are priceless. Thanks for reading my essay. I'll read yours if I don't run out of time.

      Kind Regards, JJD

      Thanks Peter,

      I appreciate the kind remarks and lead-in. I look forward to some good reading if time allows.

      Jonathan

      We can view the waves from the air, far at sea, and we'll see coherent patterns of moving waves. But when they strike the shore or a vessel, they are broken into individual waves. It's not as though there is a halting of continuous natures which provides discreteness, but instead an interaction of wave-like or cyclical phenomena with localized objects or environments.

      Thus a fixed frame of reference causes continuous phenomena to appear to be unique and complete units - discrete form.

      I shall read your paper, which I have downloaded, if time does not run out.

      Thanks, JJD

      I like the idea of Quantum determinism more than the Classical kind. Quantum mechanics does not prematurely reduce all the possibilities to either/or.

      All the Best, JJD

      Thanks for the compliment, Yuri.

      I like Penrose's work a lot. We agree on a good many things, but not all.

      Regards, JJD

      Hello Alan,

      If you go to the Azimuth Forum page, you should find it - but it may be down on the stack. Berkeley group was in the topic title as I recall.

      I'll read yours if I can.

      Regards, JJD

      Thanks for the kind words, Donatello, and the link.

      There is much to say about QM and the brain, but I'll take that up elsewhere. I attended a wonderful forum with 3 brain experts, less than 2 weeks ago.

      Your paper is close to the top of my list to read, so I'll get on with that.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      In case anyone is interested to know more,

      I have done a little editing to Quantum decoherence on Wikipedia, adding some plain-language descriptions and extending the metaphor I explored in my contest essay. A friend had looked that subject up on the Wiki, after reading my paper, and found it very tough to comprehend.

      I thought it was pretty lucid technical writing, to start with, but I did notice the tag saying the descriptions were too technical for some readers. So I hope I have helped make it an easier topic for some to understand. That was my hope, in writing the essay too, but I was more concise on the wiki.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      • [deleted]

      Dear Sir,

      We congratulate you for the brilliant analysis.

      You say: "This generalized statement of the principle of least action is also an explanation for conservation laws, as such." While we agree with the principle of least action and conservation laws, we do not admit that they are related as cause and effect. The principle of least action is related to linearity of behavior of forces. Unless a force is confined, it will not lead to non-linear behavior. Thus, linearity is the natural way. Conservation, on the other hand, is the general principle, whether the forces are linear or non-linear. Because nothing ever is truly created or destroyed - everything is only transformed.

      Your exposition of George Cann's views is correct. But we have a different explanation for the said phenomenon. True analog and digital descriptions are related to infinite and finite dimensions. Where the dimensions are not fully perceptible, it is analog. Where the dimensions are fully perceptible, it is digital. But mostly analog is used in cases where the dimensions are very big. Space and time are analog, but we use specific segments of it (like bucketful of sea water) for our purpose. This is digitization of the analog. So in all cases, digital is a segment of analog.

      Some may question the above view pointing out to the wave-particle dispute. For them we point out to the latest findings of LHC: the early universe was a 'perfect fluid', not an 'explosion of gases' that is the basis of all current theories. We posit that this fluid formed the primary field. Particles are subsequent generations of this field through confinement. We are not discussing the nature or mechanism of this confinement here. However, this proves our theory that digital is a segment of the analog.

      If we find some problem with the digital, we can always expand the segment. It will still be digital (though you seem to call it analog). However, bigger it is a larger segment; it will be difficult to precisely control it. It may also appear to interact with other forces changing its behavior, which you describe as "not quite as stable, nor as predictable in their action".

      The Double-slit experiment can be easily described in the context of the above description of field and particle. If particles are locally confined fields, then you cannot eliminate fields from the scene. The picture that emerges is when you direct the photon (particle) through a slit; it goes in the specified direction. Thus, the two slits create two bands. The detection device notes this direction of the photon or electron movement through a particular slit. Thus, the result remains same. However, if there is no such compulsion and the particles are free to move through the wave at their own pace, they will generate interference pattern. There is no mystery here.

      What you call "free energy - as radiation" is really the density fluctuation in the local field due to interaction with particles in it.

      We agree with your views that "quantum mechanics is not about very small entities." "Something large enough to be a macroscopic observable object can still be entirely quantum mechanical." The basic difference between macroscopic observable objects and quantum objects is that, while in the case of quantum objects, two particles join to form a third particle of completely different nature, the constituents of the macroscopic observable objects retain their individual characteristic even while remaining coupled. Thus, different quarks join to form protons and neutrons that exhibit different characteristics. But the individual atoms in most products retain their characteristics. Water, which shows both characteristics, belongs to a different class. While it shows different characteristics from hydrogen and oxygen, unlike quarks, it shows the linearity in addition of mass.

      The results of the interferometer experiment are also not weird. Mathematically, we know that the area of a rectangle and a parallelogram on the same base and the same height is equal. Since area implies two dimensional fields, we have to use second order terms. If the length is a units and breadth is b units, then the area will be a b squared units, which is a^2 b^2 2ab. This can be geometrically proved. But when the rectangle is shifted to make it a parallelogram, the projection of b along y axis is reduced. Thus, we have to bring in an additional factor of cos θ to bring parity. This shows that b in a rectangle and b in a parallelogram over the same base are different, even though distance-wise both have the same value. In the interferometer experiment, this difference becomes dominant, because traveling time for the waves after the deflection in both ways are different. There is no mystery in this case. The difference in relative path lengths causes the different patterns.

      We agree that perception is nothing but the result of measurement, which is a comparison between similars. However, we do not agree with the concepts of either Relativity or Quantum gravity. We have a different explanation for the phenomena. However, we agree with you that "the right-brain perceives reality as unified, connected, and fluid, rather than being made of distinct, disconnected, and solid entities." We will look forward to your theory. We will also be publishing our theory soon.

      Regards,

      basudeba.

        Thank you so much, basudeba

        Your detailed comments deserve some thought, so I will reflect on them. The thoughtful and enlightened commentary of a fellow truth seeker is always appreciated.

        All the Best,

        Jonathan

        I wish to thank all of my readers, and especially those who responded thoughtfully to my paper, and have thus placed me in the finals. You have been gracious to me, and I hope I have likewise helped some deserving souls to move up in the standings, as well.

        There were so many fine papers in the contest this year. And many deserved great respect. I am glad you all thought so highly of mine.

        I wish you all good will.

        Warm Regards,

        Jonathan

        Thanks also to Steve Dufourny - whose post I missed earlier.

        May you have spheres within spheres, and may our spheres intersect somewhere down the road.

        Regards, JJD

        For what it is worth,

        I shall be checking in on this page from time to time, to read and address any comments I find. I do invite continued interaction from the other contest authors and the public, regarding the topics discussed in my essay.

        I wish all of the other finalists the best of luck, and I thank FQXi, Scientific American and the Gruber foundation for making the contest possible.

        Regards,

        Jonathan J. Dickau

        Dear Jonathan,

        Congratulations on your dedication to the competition and your much deserved top 35 placing. I have a bugging question for you, which I've also posed to all the potential prize winners btw:

        Q: Coulomb's Law of electrostatics was modelled by Maxwell by mechanical means after his mathematical deductions as an added verification (thanks for that bit of info Edwin), which I highly admire. To me, this gives his equation some substance. I have a problem with the laws of gravity though, especially the mathematical representation that "every object attracts every other object equally in all directions." The 'fabric' of spacetime model of gravity doesn't lend itself to explain the law of electrostatics. Coulomb's law denotes two types of matter, one 'charged' positive and the opposite type 'charged' negative. An Archimedes screw model for the graviton can explain -both- the gravity law and the electrostatic law, whilst the 'fabric' of spacetime can't. Doesn't this by definition make the helical screw model better than than anything else that has been suggested for the mechanism of the gravity force?? Otherwise the unification of all the forces is an impossiblity imo. Do you have an opinion on my analysis at all?

        Best wishes and I hope you win something,

        Alan

        Yes Alan,

        A simple shape, a geometric analogy if you will, can help us to understand through symbological or metaphorical means what reductionist thought patterns could never reveal. But perhaps it is more about the essence of what makes an Archimedes screw work, rather than the simple shape itself.

        Is gravitational reality inside-out from the sense of EM forces? Well maybe gravity is actually an expansive force, but the fabric of the universe is inside out. I think when Lawrence talks about a Kleinian duality, what he means is that the universe is Mobius shaped.

        I like the idea of a spiral universe and graviton. But for the screw action to work, there has to be a down direction, an inside and an outside, and other things that are hard to imagine having an exact analogy for gravitons or the universe itself. But I don't mind turning my mind inside out trying.

        All the best,

        Jonathan

          • [deleted]

          :) indeed but with a very very rational Occham Razor at my humble opinion :)

          All te best

          Steve

          • [deleted]

          You are welcome,

          You know all roads go to the sphere....thus of course the synchro are relevant.

          All the best

          Steve