Quantum Aspects of the Brain-Mind Relationship: A Hypothesis with Supporting Evidence
📄 Original study ↗📌 Appears in:
Plain English Summary
A heavyweight complexity theorist from UPenn teams up with a leading parapsychology researcher to propose something radical: consciousness isn't just along for the ride -- it actually shapes reality. They borrow Heisenberg's old idea that the world has two layers: "Possibles" (a fuzzy realm of maybes that don't follow normal either/or logic) and "Actuals" (the solid stuff we experience). The mind, they argue, converts Possibles into Actuals through observation, which breaks the usual assumption that physics runs on autopilot without any role for consciousness. They claim this single idea explains five big puzzles in quantum mechanics. Then comes the evidence parade -- and the numbers are genuinely striking: telepathy experiments hitting 8 sigma, precognition at 11 sigma, and psychokinesis (mind influencing physical objects) at a whopping 19 sigma, where 5 sigma is typically considered rock-solid in physics. Published in a mainstream biology journal, this paper sits right at the controversial intersection of quantum theory and parapsychology.
Actual Paper Abstract
If all aspects of the mind-brain relationship were adequately explained by classical physics, then there would be no need to propose alternatives. But faced with possibly unresolvable puzzles like qualia and free will, other approaches are required. In alignment with a suggestion by Heisenberg in 1958, we propose a model whereby the world consists of two elements: Ontologically real Possibles that do not obey Aristotle's law of the excluded middle, and ontologically real Actuals that do. Based on this view, which bears resemblance to von Neumann's 1955 proposal (von Neumann, 1955), and more recently by Stapp and others (Stapp, 2007; Rosenblum and Kuttner, 2006), measurement that is registered by an observer's mind converts Possibles into Actuals. This quantum-oriented approach raises the intriguing prospect that some aspects of mind may be quantum, and that mind may play an active role in the physical world. A body of empirical evidence supports these possibilities, strengthening our proposal that the mind-brain relationship may be partially quantum.
Research Notes
Published in a mainstream biology journal (BioSystems), unusual for psi-related theoretical content. Kauffman is a distinguished emeritus professor of biochemistry at UPenn known for complexity theory; Radin is a leading parapsychological experimenter at IONS. Central to the meta-debate controversy about whether psi phenomena have a legitimate physical basis in quantum mechanics.
Proposes a non-substance dualism in which reality consists of ontologically real Possibles (Res potentia, following Heisenberg's 1958 concept) that do not obey Aristotle's law of the excluded middle, and ontologically real Actuals (Res extensa) that do. Mind acausally converts Possibles into Actuals through measurement, breaking the causal closure of classical physics and allowing consciousness an active role. This single hypothesis is claimed to explain five quantum mechanics mysteries. Reviews supporting evidence from ganzfeld experiments (30.6% hit rate, 8.1σ), forced-choice precognition (11σ), presentiment (5.3–6.9σ), dice PK (19σ), RNG experiments (6.8σ), and double-slit consciousness studies (cumulative p < 4 × 10⁻¹¹). Argues that quantum mind provides a basis for responsible free will.
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Cites
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Companion
- Parapsychological Phenomena as Examples of Generalized Nonlocal Correlations—A Theoretical Framework — Walach, Harald (2014)
- Experimental evidence of non-classical brain functions — Kerskens, Christian Matthias (2022)
- Biological Utilisation of Quantum NonLocality — Josephson, Brian D (1991)
- Is the Sun Conscious? — Sheldrake, Rupert (2021)
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📋 Cite this paper
Kauffman, Stuart A, Radin, Dean (2023). Quantum Aspects of the Brain-Mind Relationship: A Hypothesis with Supporting Evidence. BioSystems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystems.2022.104820
@article{kauffman_2023_quantum,
title = {Quantum Aspects of the Brain-Mind Relationship: A Hypothesis with Supporting Evidence},
author = {Kauffman, Stuart A and Radin, Dean},
year = {2023},
journal = {BioSystems},
doi = {10.1016/j.biosystems.2022.104820},
}