Alexander Wendt proposes a radical thought inward his Quantum Mind together with Social Science: Unifying Physical together with Socia...
Alexander Wendt proposes a radical thought inward his Quantum Mind together with Social Science: Unifying Physical together with Social Ontology: that nosotros should reconsider fundamentals of the social sciences to reverberate emerging enquiry on "quantum consciousness" together with cognition. He describes his aim inward these terms:
In this mass I explore the possibility that this [classical physics] foundational supposition of social scientific discipline is a mistake, past times re-reading social scientific discipline "through the quantum." More specifically, I debate that human beings together with hence social life demonstrate quantum coherence -- inward effect, that nosotros are walking moving ridge functions. (3)Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 keystone to Wendt's declaration is what he regards equally the credibility together with predictive niceness of "quantum determination theory". The foundational text inward this land is Busemeyer together with Bruza, Quantum Models of Cognition together with Decision. Busemeyer together with Bruza debate here, together with elsewhere, that the mathematics together with concepts of quantum mechanics inward physics have got seemingly relevant application to the land of knowledge together with judgment equally well. For example, the thought of "wave business office collapse" appears to have got analogy alongside the resolution of incertitude onto determination past times a human cognitive agent. Busemeyer together with Bruza offering vi fundamental analogies betwixt quantum mechanics together with cognition:
- judgments are based on indefinite states
- judgments practise rather than record
- judgments disturb each other, introducing uncertainty
- judgments practise non e'er obey classic logic
- judgments practise non obey the principles of unicity
- cognitive phenomena may non last decomposable
However, Busemeyer together with Bruza are only explicit inward proverb that they regard this solely equally a formal analogy -- non a hypothesis well-nigh the existent underlying construction of human thought. They explicitly deny that they let out prove to back upwards the thought that consciousness is a quantum phenomenon at the sub-molecular level. They are "agnostic toward the so-called 'quantum mind' hypothesis" (kl 156). Their utilization of the mathematics of quantum mechanics is formal rather than noun -- to a greater extent than akin to using the mathematics of fluid dynamics to correspond menstruum through a social network than arriving at a theory of the existent constitution of a domain equally a dry ground for explaining its characteristics.
This mass is non well-nigh quantum physics per se, but instead it explores the application of the probabilistic dynamic organisation created past times quantum theory to a novel domain – the land of knowledge together with determination making. (kl 245)So the application is heuristic rather than realistic:
We motivate the utilization of quantum models equally innovative abstractions of existing problems. That is all. These abstractions have got the graphic symbol of idealizations inward the feel at that topographic point is no claim equally to the validity of the idealization “on the ground.” (kl 171)
Instead [our theory] turns to quantum theory equally a fresh conceptual framework for explaining empirical puzzles, equally good equally a rich novel source of alternative formal tools. To select the thought that researchers inward this surface area are non doing quantum mechanics, diverse modifiers have got been proposed to pull this work, such equally quantum-like models of cognition, cognitive models based on quantum structure, or generalized quantum models. (kl 156)Given the key role this torso of enquiry plays inward Wendt's arguments well-nigh the social sciences, it is worth considering how it has been received inward the relevant academic communities. H. Van Dyke Parunak reviews the piece of occupation inward Computing Reviews (link). Parunak emphasizes the dot made here, that the mass is explicit inward declaring that it does non furnish back upwards for the thought of "quantum cognition" equally a manifestation of underlying quantum physical processes. He observes that "a to a greater extent than accurate title, but much less exciting, would last Hilbert infinite models of knowledge together with decision," emphasizing the purely formal together with mathematical nature of their arguments. Quantum mechanics provides a computational model for knowledge based on quantum probability theory inward their work, non an ontology of the cognitive process. Here is a brusk slice past times Trueblood, Pothos, together with Busemeyer inward Frontiers inward Psychology that spells out the mathematical assumptions that are invoked hither (link).
What is maybe less known is that the ingenious physicists who developed quantum mechanics also invented a novel theory of probability, since classical probability (CP) theory was inconsistent alongside their bold novel theory of the physical world. QP theory refers to the rules for assigning probabilities to events from quantum mechanics, without the physics. QP theory is potentially applicable to whatever surface area where at that topographic point is a demand to compute probabilities. ("Quantum probability theory equally a mutual framework for reasoning together with similarity")Here is a review article that proposes a serial of tests of "quantum-like" models of judgment (link). Here is how the authors pull the land of quantum-like models of cognition:
Recently, a enquiry land that rely on so-called “quantum” or “quantum-like” models has developed to draw of piece of occupation organisation human relationship for such behaviors. The qualifier “quantum” is used to betoken that the models exploit the mathematics of a contemporary physical theory, quantum mechanics. Note that only roughly mathematical tools of quantum mechanics are employed, together with that the claim is non that these models are justified past times an application of quantum physics to the brain. For that reason, nosotros shall prefer to telephone phone them “quantum-like” models. Such models set into enquiry 2 classical characteristics recalled above: they abandon Bayesian probabilities for others which are similar to probabilities inward quantum mechanics, together with they permit for preferences or attitudes to last undetermined. Quantum-like models have got received much involvement from psychologists, physicists, economists, cognitive scientists together with philosophers. For example, novel theoretical frameworks have got been proposed inward determination theory together with bounded rationality (Danilov together with Lambert-Mogiliansky 2008 together with 2010, Yukalov together with Sornette 2011). (2)This description besides emphasizes the purely formal nature of this theory; it is an endeavour to apply roughly of the mathematical models together with constructs of quantum theory to the empirical problems of knowledge together with judgment. They larn beyond this observation, however, past times attempting to assess the powerfulness of the mathematics to agree the data. Their overall judgment is dubious well-nigh the applicability of these mathematical tools to the available information on specific aspects of belief formation (22). "After performing the seek out against available data, the outcome is quite clear: non-degenerate models are non an option, beingness non empirically adequate or non needed."
This is all relevant to a give-and-take of Wendt's work, because Wendt's premise is solidly realist: he wants to seriously consider the possibility or likelihood of "quantum consciousness". This is the thought that thought together with mental activity are the manifestations of subatomic quantum effects.
Quantum encephalon theory takes known effects at the sub-atomic score together with scales them upward to the macroscopic score of the brain. (31)
Hence the cardinal question(s) of this book: (a) how powerfulness a quantum theoretic approach explicate consciousness together with past times extension intentional phenomena, together with thereby unify physical together with social ontology, together with (b) what are roughly implications of the outcome for contemporary debates inward social theory? (29)
For the toll of the 2 claims of quantum consciousness theory –that the encephalon is a quantum estimator together with that consciousness inheres inward affair at the fundamental score –we larn solutions to a host of intractable problems that have got dogged the social sciences from the beginning. These claims are admittedly speculative, but neither is precluded past times what nosotros currently know well-nigh the encephalon or quantum physics, together with given the classical materialist failure to brand progress on the mind–body problem, at this dot they await no to a greater extent than speculative than the orthodoxy –and the potential pay-off is huge. (35)These are tantalizing ideas. It is clear that they are intended equally substantive, non simply formal or mathematical. We are asked to accept seriously, equally an empirical hypothesis, the thought that the encephalon is a quantum auto together with its gross conduct (memory, belief, judgment) is substantively influenced past times that quantum substrate. But it is fundamentally unclear whether the findings of Busemeyer together with Bruza or other practitioners of quantum probability inward the land of cognition provide any support at all for the noun quantum-consciousness hypothesis.
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