Justin Riddle Podcast

In episode 22 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle discusses the quantum Zeno effect, the idea that with rapid measurement a system can be locked into its current state indefinitely. In the previous episode, we talked about how movement is the transition of a system from a fixed physical state into a superposition of many different states, and then upon measurement again will end up in a new state. However, it takes time for the wavefunction to evolve into a broad enough superposition with sufficient chance of ending up in a new location. So, if you make a measurement really quickly, then the system will most likely stay in the same place that it started. This leads to some strange scenarios such as a radioactive isotope that never decays as long as you keep applying rapid measurement. Henry Stapp theorized that the quantum Zeno effect may be the primary mechanism for how effortful attention makes an impact on brain activity. First, the quantum computing mind is presented with multiple options for what to do or think next; each of these options is generated by the brain. Now the mind has a choice of which option to make a reality. The mind pays attention to this thought and with enough effortful attention, this attention will change the brain and manifest the decision. The decision to choose one thought over another is a collapse of the wavefunction towards that physical outcome; however, a single collapse may not be sufficient to change the brain. With repeated collapses of the wavefunction towards that choice, the brain will get locked into that physical state and the desired choice will start to take effect. We wrap up the episode thinking about obsessive-compulsive disorder, a psychiatric illness where it is difficult to break a mental habit. Can you harness your quantum mind to change your digital brain? Find out in this episode!

In episode 21 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle discusses the idea of quantization in quantum mechanics. Early models of the universe viewed reality as comprising a continuous domain of space and continuous domain of time. However, observations in physics revealed that these simple models were inaccurate. All things in the universe are quantized into chunks of matter or light or energy. This discovery gave birth to the field of “quantum” physics which refers to a “quanta” or “unit” of energy. At a fundamental level, the universe is not smooth and continuous but composed of discrete jumps in space and time. Between two points in space and two points in time, there is nothing! There is just ‘here-and-now’ and ‘there-and-then’ with nothing between those space-time moments. This realization breaks down some basic assumptions that we make when we look out at the world around us. Movement is at a basic level a flickering between different discrete configurations. Smooth movement is an illusion! What does all this mean for the mind? There are a couple different ways to understand the relation of our mind to a flickering physical universe. We could take our mind to be flickering as is suggested by the Stuart Hameroff & Roger Penrose model of orchestrated objective reduction, or we could view the quantum computational level as provided a substrate for continuous experience with a flickering digital body.

Explore the concept of language as fundamental to describing reality, its role in information processing, and its connection to quantum consciousness. Discover the parallels between different levels of information sharing, the influence of culture on language, and the search for a universal grammar.

This podcast explores how our use of language should be updated to account for life in a quantum reality. It discusses the limitations of defining consciousness, the flaws of dictionary definitions, and the contextual nature of reality. It also emphasizes the importance of honest communication and the art of effective communication.

In episode 18 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle discusses the potential for a third form of computation beyond digital and quantum computation: fractal computation. In the metaphysical model presented in this series, the body is a digital computer, the mind is a quantum computer, and (now) the spirit is a fractal computer. First off, the concept of a fractal is introduced using examples of recursion, or self-reference, in computer science. Next, evidence for fractal resonance between scales of biology is presented along with some pioneer work that attempts to reconstruct fractal-like resonance within an artificial system. The fractal computer description provides the backdrop by which all quantum systems are embedded – each system interacts with scales that are larger and smaller than it. At the grandest level, each quantum computer is resonating with a web of entanglements at the scale of the whole universe. This framing is similar to David Bohm’s concept of the “implicate order” or “pilot-wave” as well as a Henry Stapp’s description of the wave function of the whole universe. Finally, the episode wraps up discussing some curious scientific findings by Rick Strassman that people tripping on DMT often report communicating with higher dimensional entities. While seemingly absurd, a radical empiricist must explain the origin of such experiences. Could it be that we are indeed plugged into a fractal computer, which could explain some our sense of spiritual connection to a higher purpose? We definitely have some fun philosophical musing in this episode. Enjoy!

In episode 17 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle explores the theory that your mind is composed of conscious beings in a nested hierarchy. Is your mind a single narrative flow or is it a conversation between competing viewpoints? Do you create your thoughts or do they spring into your mind fully formed? How much control do you have over your body and perception? In the Nested Observer Windows (NOW) Model, information integration units are created at multiple spatial temporal scales (brain region level, neuron level, protein level, etc) via SYNCHRONY. Synchrony sets your perception of time. Information is shared between observer windows at the same level via COHERENCE. Coherence is a dynamic conversation between semi-autonomous observer windows. Information is shared up and down the hierarchy via CROSS-FREQUENCY COUPLING. Cross-frequency coupling explains our rich experience and how simple decisions lead to complex behavior. Each of these three principles is explored with evidence from cognitive neuroscience. Next, the fractal nature of the NOW model is explored and the assertion is made that there is not an arbitrary, nor infinite, number of observer windows. Instead, observer windows are formed at distinct spatiotemporal levels. But how high and how low does the nested hierarchy of beings go? Finally, observer windows could be quantum computers where the strict requirements needed to create a quantum computer are the same requirements needed to create an observer window. There is plenty of ponder about the nature of your mind!

In episode 16 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle describes how slow-wave electromagnetic fluctuations in the brain are the closest correlate to human cognition. Does this mean that these neural oscillations at the scale of entire brain regions and networks of brain regions are somehow able to support our consciousness? Historically, these oscillations were viewed as “steam off the train engine” and people thought that only the activation of individual neurons was worth analyzing. By that same logic, is the activity of neurons just the steam off the protein engine? And only proteins are worth studying? Recent evidence suggests that macroscopic electric fields in the brain contain unique information and disruption or enhancement of slow-wave electric fields directly alters cognition. The argument is made that biology enables the strong emergence of macroscopic systems that possess causal influence on the future and downward on more microscopic biological systems. Furthermore, the rhythmic nature of electric recordings lines up with the theory that perception and behavior is inherently rhythmic. Despite evidence that conscious experience correlates strongly with slow-wave electromagnetic oscillations, how exactly does consciousness get implemented? So far in this series we have presented evidence that the mind is likely a quantum computer, but it seems exceptionally challenging to build a quantum computer so slow. Perhaps molecular infrastructure enables superconduction with large circuits…. Or perhaps electromagnetic fields possess an inherent capacity for sustaining proto-consciousness. Stay tuned for the next video with a comprehensive model for scale-free information integration in the brain!

In episode 15 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle speculates on the notion of time travel within quantum mechanics. In quantum computation, the circuits that you design to process your information must be time reversible. This leads to a curious situation where space and time are reversible within the confines of a quantum computation. While we have already discussed times where entanglement and superposition can defy classical ideas about space, it turns out that you can design experiments that show that our classical ideas of time can be violated. To this end, we explore Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiment, which is an iteration of the double-slit experiment, where the decision to measure which slit a particle went through can be made after the particle has already passed through the slits! Another experiment is delayed-choice entanglement swapping, in which the decision to entangle two photons in the future will alter the correlation between measurements we have already made in the past! These are truly mind-boggling experiments. If we assume that the brain is able to perform quantum computations (see previous episodes), then perhaps time reversibility might be used by the brain to generate a real-time experience of the present moment. Information can be processed in the future and then referred backwards in time so that the present moment is rich with a lot of detail. However, this does not violate time paradoxes because only quantum information can be transmitted to the past, and quantum information might be more like a feeling, an impression, or a suggestion, and less like hard data. Many questions to be raised in this episode as we explore the nature of time in quantum mechanics.

In episode 14 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle spells out the orchestrated objective reduction theory of consciousness by Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose. Biology requires a central processing unit to integrated information across the cell. While quantum computation offers unique solutions to biology’s problems, the warm wet noisy environment of the brain does not lend itself easily to stable quantum superpositions. Penrose & Hameroff propose that nonpolar pockets with limited environmental influence creates the conditions for delocalized clouds of electrons that enter superposition. Benzene rings and aromatic rings provide a geometric means of building superposed electron channels. At the core of each protein, nonpolar channels of electrons create a macroscopic functional unit to guide protein function. Tubulin extend this principle by aligning with their neighbors in a cyclical pattern to create topological pathways. The topological qubits in microtubules extend to their neighbors via microtubules associated proteins (MAPs). Quantum computers require a digital interface phase and a non-local quantum computation phase. Actin microfilaments dynamically isolate and expose the microtubules to the environment through phase transition from a liquid-state (digital) to a gel-state (quantum). As the microtubules are isolated, the superposition grows in complexity until it reaches an objective threshold and self-collapses. This collapse rate is hypothesized to be the equivalent of a single moment of conscious experience. As these moments are strung together, a conscious experience is created. Anesthetics and psychedelics are theorized to bind to tubulin proteins and either silence the electron channels or to enhance their resonance, thereby modifying conscious experience.

In episode 13 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle discusses how microtubules are the most likely candidate to be a universal quantum computer that acts as a single executive unit in cells. First off, computer scientists are trying to model human behavior using neural networks that treat individual neurons as the base unit. But unicellular organisms are able to do many of the things that we consider to be human behavior! How does a single-cell lifeform perform this complex behavior? As Stuart Hameroff puts it, “neuron doctrine is an insult to neurons,” referring to the complexity of a single cell. Let’s look inside a cell, what makes it tick? Many think the DNA holds some secret code or algorithm that is executing the decision-making process of the cell. However, the microscope reveals a different story where the microtubules are performing a vast array of complex behaviors: swimming towards food, away from predators, coordinating protein delivery and creation within the cell. This begs the question: how do microtubules work? Well, they are single proteins organized into helical cylinders. What is going on here? Typically, we think of a protein’s function as being determined by its structure but the function of a single protein repeated into tubes is tough to unravel. Stuart Hameroff proposed that perhaps these tubulin proteins are acting as bits of information and the whole tube is working as a universal computer that can be programmed to fit any situation. Given the limitations of digital computation, Roger Penrose was looking for a quantum computer in biology and Stuart Hameroff was looking for more than a digital computation explanation. Hence, the Hameroff-Penrose model of microtubules as quantum computers was born. If microtubules are quantum computers, then each cell would possess a central executive hub for rapidly integrating information from across the cell and to turn that information into a single action plan that could be quickly disseminated. Furthermore, the computation would get a “quantum” speed-up in that exponentially large search spaces could be tackled in a reasonable timeframe. If microtubules are indeed quantum computers, then modern science has greatly underestimated the processing power of a single cell, let alone the entire human brain.