Quantum Mind 2003: Consciousness, Quantum Physics and the Brain

Could quantum information be the key to understanding
consciousness? Will the study of consciousness enable
quantum information technology? The nature of
consciousness and its place in the universe remain
mysterious. Classical models view consciousness as
computation among the brain's neurons but fail to
address its enigmatic features. At the same time quantum processes (superposition of states, nonlocality, entanglement,) also remain mysterious, yet are being harnessed in revolutionary information technologies (quantum computation, quantum cryptography and
quantum teleportation.)

A relation between consciousness and quantum effects
has been pondered for nearly a century, and in the past
decades quantum processes in the brain have been
invoked as explanations for consciousness and its
enigmatic features. Critics deride this comparison as a
mere "minimization of mysteries" and quickly point out
that the brain is too warm for quantum computation, which
in the technological realm requires extreme cold to avoid
"decoherence" (i.e. the loss of seemingly delicate
quantum states by interaction with the environment.)
However quantum computation would surely be
advantageous from an evolutionary perspective, and
biology has had 4 billion years to solve the decoherence
problem and evolve quantum mechanisms. Furthermore,
recent experimental evidence indicates quantum
non-locality occurring in conscious and subconscious
brain function, and functional quantum processes in
molecular biology are becoming more and more
apparent.

Much like study of the brain's synaptic connections
promoted artificial neural networks in the 1980's,
appreciation of biological quantum information
processing may promote quantum information
technology. Moreover, macroscopic quantum processes
are being proposed as intrinsic features in cosmology,
evolution and social interactions.

Following the first "Quantum Mind" conference held in
Flagstaff at Northern Arizona University in 1999,
"Quantum Mind 2003" will update current status and
future directions, and provide dialog with skeptical
criticism of the proposed synthesis of quantum
information science and the brain.

Confirmed speakers include:
Sir Roger Penrose, Paul Benioff, Henry Stapp, Guenter
Mahler, Mae Wan Ho, Paavo Pylkkanen, Harald Walach,
Jiri Wackerman, Jack Tuszynski, Dick Bierman,
Koichiro Matsuno, Stuart Hameroff, Nancy Woolf, Scott
Hagan, Paola Zizzi, Alexander Wendt, Jeffrey Satinover,
Roeland van Wijk, Guenter Albrecht-Buehler, Ken
Augustyn, Sisir Roy, Menas Kafatos, Hartmann Roemer,
E. Roy John, Gerald Pollack and Carlo Trugenberger.

Submitted abstracts will be considered for Plenary Talks,
Short Talks or Posters. Deadline for abstract submission
is December 1, 2002.

Topics:
* Quantum models of consciousness
* Quantum information science
* Decoherence, anti-decoherence and topological
quantum error correction
* Cosmology and consciousness
* Protein, cytoskeletal and DNA dynamics
* Time: physics and perception
* Nonlocality and entanglement between macro-systems:
experimental evidence
* Quantum mind and social science
* Skeptical criticism

For further information including abstract submission,
registration and lodging see
www.consciousness.arizona.edu/quantum-mind2

Sponsored by
Center for Consciousness Studies, The University of
Arizona;
The Fetzer Institute; The YeTaDeL Foundation;
The Samueli Institute for Information Biology;
School of Computational Science, George Mason
University; Mind Science Foundation