Wednesday, July 16, 2014

What self is?

The concept of self seems to be absolutely essential for the understanding of the macroscopic and macro-temporal aspects of consciousness and would be counterpart for observer in quantum measurement theory.

The original proposal was that self is conscious entity.

  1. Self corresponds to a subsystem able to remain un-entangled under the sequential informational 'time evolutions' U. Exactly vanishing entanglement is practically impossible in ordinary quantum mechanics and it might be that 'vanishing entanglement' in the condition for self-property should be replaced with 'subcritical entanglement'. If space-time decomposes into p-adic and real regions, and if entanglement between regions representing physics in different number fields vanishes, space-time indeed decomposes into selves in a natural manner. Causal diamonds would form natural imbedding space correlates for selves and their hierarchy would correspond to self hierarchy.

  2. The intuitive idea inspired by the formation of bound states of particles from particles was that self corresponds somehow to an integration of quantum jumps to single coherent whole. Later I gave up this idea since it was difficult to understand how the integration could take place.

  3. The next suggestion was that quantum jumps as such correspond to selves. It was however difficult to assign to selves identified in this manner a definite geometric time duration. It is an empirical fact that this kind duration can be assigned to mental images (identified as subselves).

  4. One could also introduce self as a subsystem which is only potentially consciousness and here the notion of negentropic entanglement suggests an obvious approach based on interaction free measurement. Negentropy Maximization Principle (NMP) implies that Universe is like a library with new books emerging continually at its shelves. This would explain evolution. One can however argue that negentropic entanglement - "Akashic records" - gives rise only to self model rather than self.

  5. The approach which seems the most convincing relies on the observation that ZEO sequences of ordinary state function reductions leaving state unchanged are replaced with sequences for which the part of the zero energy state associated with a fixed boundary of CD state remains unchanged in state function reduction whereas the state at the other end of CD changes. This is something new and explains the arrow of time and its flow and self could be understood as a sequence of quantum jumps at fixed boundary of CD (with the average location of second boundary shifted towards geometric future like in dispersion). Amusingly, this is in accordance with the original proposal except that state function reductions
    take place on same boundary of CD.

    This view is extremely attractive since it implies that the act of free will interpreted as genuine state function reduction must mean reversal for the direction of geometric time at some level of hierarchy of selves. The proposal has indeed been that sensory perception and motor action are time reversals of each other and that motor action involves sending of negative energy signals to the geometric past.

For details and background see the chapter "Self and binding" of "TGD inspired theory of consciousness".

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Matti,

As i understand a single atom also has magnetic body. What is the role of the magnetic body in the atom. Intentional agent of the atom?!!!
A single electron has also magnetic body?


What is the process from premises to your conclusion in the following argument? If this is clear, i don't have any imagination about it.
"If space-time decomposes into p-adic and real regions, and if entanglement between regions representing physics in different number fields vanishes, space-time indeed decomposes into selves in a natural manner."

Matti Pitkanen said...

Dear Hamed,

maybe. Electron's secondary p-adic scale corresponds to Mersenne primes M_127 and corresponding secondary p-adic time scale characterising minimal size of CD assignable to electron is .1 seconds, fundamental biorhythm!
The complexity of self model measured by
the amount of negentropic sources would tell
how intelligent self is. Electron is probably not any Einstein but who knows in this holographic world;-).

The first criteria for self is as system separated from external world- that is de-entanglement. Otherwise you cannot say whether the cat is dead or alive -that is speak about identity. In repeated sequence of state function reductions on same boundary this condition is realised since state function reduction by definition reduces entropic
(the usual) entanglement. This state lasts as long as state function reductions occur on same boundary of CD. The average increase of the distance between this fixed boundary and other boundary during this period defines life-time of self.

Death of self means change of time arrow at some level of hierarchy of CDs. Negative energy signals travelling to past is one manner to say what happens. Home exercise: What happens when we fall asleep and die biologically?;-)

If volition corresponds to non-trivial state function
reduction it must change arrow of time at some
level of hierarchy. Conforms with the proposal
that motor action and sensory perception are time
reversals of each other.

Anonymous said...

Thanks dear Matti for the answer.

Anonymous said...

Self is too simple relation to narrow it down to any definite mathematical structure or definition.

In itself = in all its relations.

Aho Mitakuye Oyasin

Anonymous said...

And what is self-importance?

To remind the space suits that endogastric anaerobic bacteria had to bioengineer when nasty light sucking bacteria terraformed atmosphere into poisonous mixture of oxygen:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25894-meet-the-electric-life-forms-that-live-on-pure-energy.html?page=2#.U8hYtfl_twm

http://cell-phones.toptenreviews.com/smartphones/terrifying-germs-that-live-on-your-smartphone.html


LIVE LONG AND COEVOLVE!
http://fabeetle.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/spock-quotes.jpg

Matti Pitkanen said...



Maybe I should have chosen that the title more cautiously. As quantum physicist I can only search for quantum correlates of self, see whether existing quantum physics or its generalisation can provide them. In this approach one humbly admits that one cannot reduce consciousness to physics as materialists belief. Consciousness is in the non-deterministic change rather than in 1-1 correspondence with the state of brain.

Matti Pitkanen said...

To Anonymous,


thank you for interesting link . I put it to here too. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25894-meet-the-electric-life-forms-that-live-on-pure-energy.html?page=2#.U8h4OhZl9Rw .


The article about bacteria using electrons as nutrients is very interesting reading concerning the ideas about metabolism as a transfer of negentropic entanglement at fundamental level.

a) NE is always between two systems: nutrient and something, call it X. The proposal inspired by a numerical co-incidence was that X could be called Mother Gaia. The starting point was the claim that
so called gravimagnetic effects for super-conducting electrons is by a factor 10^28 larger than it should be! This claim was made by a respected group of scientists.

b) Gravitational Planck constant h_gr= GMm/v_0, v_0 typical velocity in system consisting of masses M>>m and m was introduced originally by Nottale and I proposed that it is genuine Planck constant assignable to flux tubes mediating gravitational interaction between M and m.

c) For electron, ions, molecules, .. the value of h_gr is same order as h_eff=n*h needed by the hypothesis that cyclotron energies for these particles are universal and in the visible and UV range assigned to biophotons. Biophotons would result from dark photons via phase transition.

e) In the recent case the model would say that the electrons serving as nutrients have this kind of negentropic entanglement with Mother Gaia. h_gr would be of order 10^8. Of course, also in nutrients electrons would be the negentropically entangled entities.

Electrons are certainly fundamental for living matte in TGD Unniverse where cell membrane is high Tc electronic super-conductor. Members of Cooper pairs are at flux tubes carrying opposite magnetic fields so that the magnetic interaction energy produces very large binding energy for the large values of h_eff involved: something like electron volts! This is also the TGD based mechanism of high T_c superconductivity: now it is already known that anti ferromagnetism is crucial and flux tubes carrying fluxes at opposite directions is indeed very antiferromagnetic thing.

Josephson energy given by membrane voltage (2e*V) is just above the thermal energy at room temperature: minimal metabolic costs. Electron's secondary p-adic time scale is .1 seconds, the fundamental biorhythm which corresponds to 10 Hz alpha resonance.