INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY MAQ
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Commentaries on Quantum Biosystems Special Issue ON

"Hydrodynamic Quantum Field and the Musical Structure of Consciousness"

 

 

Donald Mender (2020). 

Larry’s Lack of Qualia.

Quantum Biosystems. 11(2) 1-2

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Wolfgang Baer (2020). 

A Rebel Physicist’s Commentary on “Consciousness in the Universe is Tuned by a Musical Master Code”.

Quantum Biosystems. 11(2) 3-8

 

 

Chris Nunn (2020). 

Paradise regained? - maybe not quite yet. 

Quantum Biosystems. 11(2) 9-12

 

 

Romeu Cardoso Guimarães (2020). 

We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep. 

Quantum Biosystems. 11(2) 13-21

 

 

Florin Gaiseanu (2020). 

The Informational Structure of Consciousness and Application for an Evaluation Procedure in the Music-Based Therapy Process. 

Quantum Biosystems. 11(2) 22-33

 

 

Diego Lucio Rapoport (2020). 

Supradual Critique of the Toroidal Model of Consciousness: A Simulacrum by Meijer, Jerman, Melkhik & Sbitnev. 

Quantum Biosystems. 11(2) 34-43

 

 

Editorial: Massimo Pregnolato and Alfredo Pereira Jr.

The Target Papers published in this Quantum Biosystems Special Issue compose a comprehensive theoretical review of interdisciplinary efforts made by contemporary authors to understand the nature of life and consciousness in the cosmos. Besides referring to relevant contributions in this field, the authors also develop their views into a coherent explanatory original hypothesis, showing how it integrates several independent results obtained by the various authors into a unitary theoretical conjecture.

Considering the complexity of the topic and the richness of information and references, the journal editors found it convenient to ask the authors for a division of the text in three parts. The division is helpful for the readers interested in a specific topic and for invited commenters, who may feel more comfortable discussing the part of the proposal that is closer to their expertise.

Part 1, “A Conformal Mental Attribute of Reality” addresses the "Musical Code" present in the universe; Part 2, “The Hard Problem in Consciousness Studies Revisited”, is about the concept of "Universal” or “Cosmic Consciousness", and Part 3, “A Hydrodynamic Superfluid Quantum Space Guides a Conformal Mental Attribute of Reality” is about a proposal elaborated by the authors to solve the "Hard Problem of Consciousness".

When opening the discussion about the issues raised in the Target Paper, the editors do not intend to find a consensus, but to identify and clarify the main philosophical, scientific and artistic perspectives about the approach proposed by the authors. For instance, the scientific data reviewed in Part 1 is likely to be accepted by the readers and commenters, but the assumptions on which the Hard Problem of Consciousness is solved is more likely to raise interesting discussion. The authors explicitly assume an Idealist ontology, placing Universal Consciousness (UC) as a central factor at the origin of life and in the conscious experience of biological beings, but they emphasize that the UC concept that they submit, is, for the first time, physically defined in relation to a superfluid quantum space and, moreover, propose a plausible mechanism for its communication with the brain (hydronium superconductivity and resonance in brain water).

 Although, clearly, not arguing for a religious Creationist view, the authors claim that Darwinism provides a limited explanation of cosmic evolution, to be completed with reference to UC as a guiding principle. In particular, they confirm the importance of Darwin’s approach in offering insight in the selection of information for problem solving, aimed at evolutionary survival, but state that the theory falls short in addressing the gap between physics and meaning. Rather, a partially directed evolution is envisioned through a priori information and harmonically directed guidance of first life. Also, they hold that in subsequent stages of biological evolution guided coherency, as well as downward (top-down) causation, are required for the emergence of the high cellular and species complexity.

 The richness of understanding provided by these Target Papers has the power to promote progress in the investigation of the nature of consciousness in the Cosmos. One of the main questions that arise from the reading of the paper is if UC operates by itself as a guiding force, like the four fundamental forces of physics are supposed to do, or if it is rather a potentiality of nature requiring a local conjunction of causal factors to manifest its powers.

One clue to answer the above question is the proposed “musical code” that the authors claim to be intrinsic to UC. As long as the musical dynamic patterns propagate in material substrates by means of resonances, they seem to have a modus operandi similar to Aristotle´s “Formal Cause”, and as long as they guide the trajectory of systems they may also operate as “Final Cause”. However, if these patterns derive from the self-organization of physical systems, their Platonic, “Idealist” status, may not be the only possible philosophical interpretation.

In the above cases for discussion, and in other details the reader will read with intellectual pleasure, the richness of the paper is evident. With this Special Issue, we hope to highlight the discussion of important interdisciplinary issues in the interface of quantum theory and biology, including scientific, philosophical and artistic approaches. The receptivity to this type of investigation, surely places our journal in a unique position in contemporary culture.