Second Announcement and Call for Papers
Quantum Mind 2003
Consciousness, Quantum Physics and the Brain
March 15-19, 2003,
Tucson Convention Center and Leo Rich Theater
The University of Arizona
http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/quantum-mind2
Could quantum information be the key to understanding consciousness?
Will the study of consciousness enable quantum information technology?
The nature of consciousness and its place in the universe remain
mysterious. Classical models view consciousness as computation among
the brain's neurons but fail to address its enigmatic features. At the
same time quantum processes (superposition of states, nonlocality,
entanglement,) also remain mysterious, yet are being harnessed in
revolutionary information technologies (quantum computation, quantum
cryptography and quantum teleportation.)
A relation between consciousness and quantum effects has been pondered
for nearly a century, and in the past decades quantum processes in the
brain have been invoked as explanations for consciousness and its
enigmatic features. Critics deride this comparison as a mere
"minimization of mysteries" and quickly point out that the brain is
too warm for quantum computation, which in the technological realm
requires extreme cold to avoid "decoherence" (i.e. the loss of
seemingly delicate quantum states by interaction with the
environment.) However quantum computation would surely be advantageous
from an evolutionary perspective, and biology has had 4 billion years
to solve the decoherence problem and evolve quantum mechanisms.
Furthermore, recent experimental evidence indicates quantum
non-locality occurring in conscious and subconscious brain function,
and functional quantum processes in molecular biology are becoming
more and more apparent.
Much like study of the brain's synaptic connections promoted
artificial neural networks in the 1980's, appreciation of biological
quantum information processing may promote quantum information
technology. Moreover, macroscopic quantum processes are being proposed
as intrinsic features in cosmology, evolution and social interactions.
Following the first "Quantum Mind" conference held in Flagstaff at
Northern Arizona University in 1999, "Quantum Mind 2003" will update
current status and future directions, and provide dialog with
skeptical criticism of the proposed synthesis of quantum information
science and the brain.
Confirmed speakers include:
Sir Roger Penrose, Paul Benioff, Henry Stapp, Guenter Mahler, Mae Wan
Ho, Paavo Pylkkanen, Harald Walach, Jiri Wackerman, Jack Tuszynski,
Dick Bierman, Koichiro Matsuno, Stuart Hameroff, Nancy Woolf, Scott
Hagan, Paola Zizzi, Alexander Wendt, Jeffrey Satinover, Roeland van
Wijk, Guenter Albrecht-Buehler, Ken Augustyn, Sisir Roy and Menas
Kafatos
Submitted abstracts will be considered for Plenary Talks, Short Talks
or Posters. Deadline for abstract submission is December 1, 2002.
Topics:
* Quantum models of consciousness
* Quantum information science
* Decoherence, anti-decoherence and topological quantum error
correction
* Cosmology and consciousness
* Protein, cytoskeletal and DNA dynamics
* Time: physics and perception
* Nonlocality and entanglement between macro-systems: experimental
evidence
* Quantum mind and social science
* Skeptical criticism
For further information including abstract submission, registration
and lodging see http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/quantum-mind2
Sponsored by
Center for Consciousness Studies, The University of Arizona; The
Fetzer Institute; The YeTaDeL Foundation; The Samueli Institute for
Information Biology; School of Computational Science, George Mason
University
Organizing Committee
Stuart Hameroff, Fred Thaheld, Harald Walach Paavo Pylkkanen, Jack
Tuszynski, Dick Bierman, Nancy Woolf, Scott Hagan, Avner Priel, Adele
Behar, Pierre St. Hilaire, Paola Zizzi, Alexander Wendt, Andrew
Duggins, Jeffrey Satinover
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