I have the following observations.
1. Modern science is based on physics, which is the study of the physical world. Starting with physics (trying to probe elementary constituents of matter and its related properties like heat and electromagnetism), scientists have expanded into more complex entities with chemistry, biology, and zoology.
- In the early days, scientists studied the physics of matter (gravity, motion of particles, etc.) and energy (heat, electromagnetism, etc.) separately. However, Einstein’s mass-energy equation (E = mc^2) made the connection between matter and energy.
2. In the meantime, mental phenomena and inquiries into fundamental reality (unchanging principles that underpin reality itself) were studied separately and fell under the category of philosophy.
- These were termed “metaphysics” (implying “beyond physics” or “not amenable to physics”). For example, questions like “Why does anything exist at all?” or “What is the ultimate structure of existence?” are metaphysical because they can’t be settled by experiments
- They were mostly philosophical in nature. Different philosophers presented vastly different ideas, which could not be proven or disproven with the tools of physics (or science and mathematics in general).
3. As we saw in #1 above, Einstein’s mass-energy equation (E = mc^2) made the connection between matter and energy.
- Furthermore, quantum mechanics has some features (quantum entanglement, Heisenberg uncertainty principle, etc.) that make it appear “mysterious” compared to classical physics, where the predictions are intuitive and transparently deterministic.
- The “hard problem in consciousness” (discussed in philosophy) is also mysterious, just like quantum phenomena: the question of how consciousness can arise in a brain made of inert matter.
- When quantum mechanics emerged in the early 1900s, many people began to connect the two, speculating that the newly discovered quantum theory would explain how consciousness arises in the brain.
4. However, the root problem of the approach in #3 is the following.
- Most of those proposals to connect quantum phenomena to mental processes presume that consciousness arises in the brain. In other words, they attempt to identify quantum processes in the brain, and more specifically, in neurons. Yet, neurons are macroscopic particles and not in the quantum regime!
5. The proposed theory of “Quantum Immortality” based on the “Many-Worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics” does not specifically refer to consciousness arising in the brain.
- It is a very general theory (more like a philosophical argument) without specificity.
- It is solely based on the time development of a wave function. Wave functions are used to calculate the trajectories of microscopic particles or energy packets.
6. Buddha’s worldview is exactly the opposite. Mental phenomena are the root cause of material phenomena.
- However, there is a connection to quantum mechanics in the following way. Kammic energy (generated in javana cittas defiled with raga, dosa, moha) is the precursor to both living and non-living matter, i.e., both the living beings and their environments.
- These subtle energies overlap the energies involved in quantum mechanics (QM). The “unusual properties of microscopic particles/energies addressed in QM” are also displayed by kammic energies. A good example is “quantum entanglement”, which is the ability of two spatially separated “entangled particles” to respond to each other instantaneously. See “Quantum Entanglement – We Are All Connected.”
7. However, I believe the paper on “Quantum Immortality: The Missing Element” should be published because it can initiate a productive discussion on the intriguing subject of consciousness between the two camps.
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I am not sure a review like the above can be helpful for getting the paper accepted. If so, I would be happy to do so, and I can address any other points you can bring to my attention.
