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Materialism and the “problem” of quantum measurement

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Abstract

For nearly six decades, the conscious observer has played a central and essential rôle in quantum measurement theory. I outline some difficulties which the traditional account of measurement presents for material theories of mind before introducing a new development which promises to exorcise the ghost of consciousness from physics and relieve the cognitive scientist of the burden of explaining why certain material structures reduce wavefunctions by virtue of being conscious while others do not. The interactive decoherence of complex quantum systems reveals that the oddities and complexities of linear superposition and state vector reduction are irrelevant to computational aspects of the philosophy of mind and that many conclusions in related fields are ill founded.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, Scotland

    Gregory R. Mulhauser

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Mulhauser, G.R. Materialism and the “problem” of quantum measurement. Mind Mach 5, 207–217 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00974744

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