The Physics of Consciousness

The physics of consciousness is getting more and more elaborated. Our physics substantially depends on the artificial, in my opinion, division between matter/energy and consciousness, respectively called by philosopher Cartesius “res extensa” and “res cogitans”. But the birth and development of quantum physics, in particular the theoretical and experimental demonstration of “non-locality”, through the mechanism of quantum entanglement whose nature is very well explained by the so called “quantum potential” by physicist David Bohm, has suddenly opened a sort of gate.

After all Bohm’s version of the very famous Schrödinger equation of quantum mechanics shows alone how the locality and causality of matter/energy (explicate order) is linked with the non-locality and a-causality of consciousness (implicate order). As well as during the long-lasting discussions between quantum physicist Nobel Prize Wolfgang Pauli and analytic psychologist Carl Gustav Jung the most intimate structure of “Reality” is just a cross whose perpendicular arms represent locality and non-locality through a unique entity.

At the same time, according to research by mathematical physicist Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff, quantum physics is now able to explain how consciousness is formed (just the orchestrated collapse of only one wave function describing the quantum state of our brain microtubules), where (here too) consciousness and its neural correlate (our brain) are intimately related. And on a wider scale, such as the Global Consciousness Project created and directed by scientist Roger Nelson, deviations from randomness recorded by REG (Random Event Generator) machines occurred during dramatic and highly emotional events in the world seem to symptomatically demonstrate that a “collective consciousness” does exist.

My strong feeling is that the physics of the next few decades will penetrate deeply inside what we presently call spirituality. This will never depauperate the “Power of Faith” of every single individual but it will certainly reduce the role, and above all the power, of institutional religions.

I have strong reasons to think that all of this will help us much to be able to get a true contact with “other intelligences” in this very strange Universe, and even more: to understand how the worm turns into a butterfly just when we die.

I have the strong feeling that the Universe is much more marvelous than we ever thought before and that a sort of “alchemy” is about to occur just inside us.