Neuroscientists, physicists and philosophers, all engaged in the study of consciousness, have proposed several theories trying to explain the phenomenon of consciousness. Some are claiming that consciousness needs only a material brain but others claim that non-local consciousness is responsible for the sensations that we experience.
There is an inborn human wish that death cannot be the end of our short period of awareness and therefore humans keep searching for reasons to prove one can live forever, but it is time to realize the fact that we are here for a short time only and therefore we should enjoy the enormous luck that gives us a chance to experience this window in our magnificent universe.
I like to make the point that intelligent educated but religious persons trying to use the latest in physics by esoteric philosophy to hang on to the idea of an afterlife when it doesn't seem make sense if we use critical thinking. The trouble I have is to express their philosophy to the readers in a short essay, where many even may know little about quantum physics and therefor are impressed with the famous names which the theists throw around to make their argument sound genuine. So here i argue that even if their theories become proven true, the afterlife, as it is envisioned by most people as an extension of earth life, is still not valid.
Dr. Stuart Hameroff, anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona, holds the controversial opinion that "consciousness originates from quantum states in neural microtubules" and claims to have confirmed that the material brain cannot create consciousness and that consciousness exists independently of the brain. There are several theories of consciousness that involve quantum physics. Dr. Hameroff and the well-known British physicist Sir Roger Penrose claim that consciousness resides in microtubules of braincells which are primarily sites of quantum processing. Dr Hameroff stated;"Upon death this info is released from the body, meaning that your consciousness goes with it."
They have argued that our experience of consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects in those microtubules, a theory dubbed Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR) postulates that consciousness originates at the quantum level inside neurons rather than the conventional view that it is a product of connections between neurons. The mechanism is held to be a quantum process that is orchestrated by cellular structures called microtubules
Dr. Hameroff told science channel, through the wormhole documentary, "let's say that the heart stops beating, blood stops flowing, the microtubules lose their quantum state. The quantum information within the microtubules is not destroyed. It can't be destroyed. It just distributes and dissipates to the universe at large. Renowned scientist Lanza adds that "not only does it exist in the universe, it exists perhaps (perhaps?) in another universe." So, is there really a part of your consciousness that is non-material and will live on after the death of the physical body? Hameroff stated "There is supposedly (supposedly?) a cosmic awareness which makes human consciousness possible, therefore, once your physical body dies it will find another one and remains part of the cosmic consciousness. Energy cannot be destroyed, so the awareness continues".
Dr. Hameroff's tortured theory is an attempt to prove that quantum theory can be used to denote an afterlife. Let's assume that Dr. Hameroff is correct and that consciousness cannot be formed in the material brain but needs a "cosmic consciousness" in order to form. The focus, then, should not be on the operational details of microtubules, which are well understood, but on the existence of a "cosmic consciousness." Where is this theorized cosmic consciousness and how might we prove its existence?
There also seems to be confusion between consciousness and awareness. The recognition of "self" relies on your memory stored in your material brain. There is now enough research to establish that as a fact. Many cases of brain injuries and diseases have shown that they can destroy parts or all of your memory (total amnesia for example). Observing Alzheimer's patients also shows that awareness of "self," depending on your memories, slowly dies when the brain functions slowly deteriorate, it is therefore immaterial whether your consciousness needs a cosmic connection to exist if awareness dies with the material brain. Since everyone's awareness of "self" dies with the memories, it is irrelevant whether the energy in your microtubules returns to the "cosmic consciousness." Dr. Hameroff claims that, because energy cannot be destroyed, the consciousness generated in quantum processes in microtubules is "distributed and dissipated to the universe at large." But even if this is true, the memory which constitutes your "self" will die with the material brain.
There is an inborn human wish that death cannot be the end of our short period of awareness and therefore humans keep searching for reasons to prove one can live forever, but it is time to realize the fact that we are here for a short time only and therefore we should enjoy the enormous luck that gives us a chance to experience this window in our magnificent universe.
I like to make the point that intelligent educated but religious persons trying to use the latest in physics by esoteric philosophy to hang on to the idea of an afterlife when it doesn't seem make sense if we use critical thinking. The trouble I have is to express their philosophy to the readers in a short essay, where many even may know little about quantum physics and therefor are impressed with the famous names which the theists throw around to make their argument sound genuine. So here i argue that even if their theories become proven true, the afterlife, as it is envisioned by most people as an extension of earth life, is still not valid.
Dr. Stuart Hameroff, anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona, holds the controversial opinion that "consciousness originates from quantum states in neural microtubules" and claims to have confirmed that the material brain cannot create consciousness and that consciousness exists independently of the brain. There are several theories of consciousness that involve quantum physics. Dr. Hameroff and the well-known British physicist Sir Roger Penrose claim that consciousness resides in microtubules of braincells which are primarily sites of quantum processing. Dr Hameroff stated;"Upon death this info is released from the body, meaning that your consciousness goes with it."
They have argued that our experience of consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects in those microtubules, a theory dubbed Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR) postulates that consciousness originates at the quantum level inside neurons rather than the conventional view that it is a product of connections between neurons. The mechanism is held to be a quantum process that is orchestrated by cellular structures called microtubules
Dr. Hameroff told science channel, through the wormhole documentary, "let's say that the heart stops beating, blood stops flowing, the microtubules lose their quantum state. The quantum information within the microtubules is not destroyed. It can't be destroyed. It just distributes and dissipates to the universe at large. Renowned scientist Lanza adds that "not only does it exist in the universe, it exists perhaps (perhaps?) in another universe." So, is there really a part of your consciousness that is non-material and will live on after the death of the physical body? Hameroff stated "There is supposedly (supposedly?) a cosmic awareness which makes human consciousness possible, therefore, once your physical body dies it will find another one and remains part of the cosmic consciousness. Energy cannot be destroyed, so the awareness continues".
Dr. Hameroff's tortured theory is an attempt to prove that quantum theory can be used to denote an afterlife. Let's assume that Dr. Hameroff is correct and that consciousness cannot be formed in the material brain but needs a "cosmic consciousness" in order to form. The focus, then, should not be on the operational details of microtubules, which are well understood, but on the existence of a "cosmic consciousness." Where is this theorized cosmic consciousness and how might we prove its existence?
There also seems to be confusion between consciousness and awareness. The recognition of "self" relies on your memory stored in your material brain. There is now enough research to establish that as a fact. Many cases of brain injuries and diseases have shown that they can destroy parts or all of your memory (total amnesia for example). Observing Alzheimer's patients also shows that awareness of "self," depending on your memories, slowly dies when the brain functions slowly deteriorate, it is therefore immaterial whether your consciousness needs a cosmic connection to exist if awareness dies with the material brain. Since everyone's awareness of "self" dies with the memories, it is irrelevant whether the energy in your microtubules returns to the "cosmic consciousness." Dr. Hameroff claims that, because energy cannot be destroyed, the consciousness generated in quantum processes in microtubules is "distributed and dissipated to the universe at large." But even if this is true, the memory which constitutes your "self" will die with the material brain.
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