Quantum Effects On Mind, direct effect of environment on mind

1.consider a person cut off from all his senses,all his 5 senses shut
down and now he is about to find a solution for a problem. Does his
environment (or rather,positions of atoms/energy around
him, ) ,affects his solution ?
will there be different solution at different environments ?
2.consider an artificial brain fed with signals similar to normal
brain and (for arguments sake )this artificial brain and a normal
human brain have computational similarities...then will they have
similar response? or as they are made of different materials there
would be differences in response ?

I'm not sure of the question:

1)are you asking if electrical moments are somehow related to the thought process and biology is emergent from these moments?


2) the big difference between the thought process in the brain and the computational process is the fact that a computer never considers the <maybe | maybe*> and is instead programmed(and designed, hardware wise) in a <1|0> base 2 vectorspace. several programming technologies seek to overcome this problem (fuzzy logic), they are however stacked higher up in the decision making process and can not be considered emergent and therefore suffer from the n != np problem.

i hope that answered your question.

1.yes ,indeed thought processes are electrical moments in the neurons.it is the basis of MRI and other diagnosis techniques..
consider my question thus,will there be any interaction between our brain and the environment?(omitting the interaction through senses )
2.so are you suggesting that those problems in the machines are due to this difference in materials ?

The first thing I considered when I read this is, conscious thought, reasoning, deduction, and even creativity, all appear to be processed from data collected by our senses. I would speculate our brains biological maintenance functions have little or no influence on those thought processes. While we can consciously exert control over a few biological maintenance items like breathing, most we cannot, even the ones we can usually function on a subconscious level and require a sense to control (in this example the sense of touch).

The point I am driving at is, even if you suddenly cut off all five senses while searching for a solution to a problem, that solution will still be based on all the data collected and processed from those senses.

Think about what might happen if you cut off input from all senses of a human fetus before birth? If the baby's biological needs were maintained over time, I don't see how, even after years or decades of development that persons ability to conceive or solve a problem would be more then that of a plant? Deprived of any data input from senses ever, they have no awareness of anything outside the body. They would even have no awareness of the functions of their body. Most of those functions are subconscious and would require at least sense of touch for a conscious awareness.

Based on what I have already said, I would say the materials have no, or almost no influence on the response. A CPU is no more aware of what materials make it up, then we are of the materials that make up our brains. This stuff is learned from the data collected by senses (sensors), or programed into a computer.

Max

This post has been edited by Maxila on Jun 20 2011, 06:16 PM

1) by subjecting the brain to a magnetic field would alter the moments in the electrons [1]. also it would produce changes in the brain chemistry and alter decision making and the manner in which external stimulus is processed[2]

2)it has to do with the nature of the device. A computer only has two possible states with no in between, and while we can simulate the in between states with programming, essentially a computer only has an on or off switch called a bit.

I feel i should distinguish the difference between a Cbit and a Qbit here.

A Cbit which is the method that a computer uses for processing information only has 2 states, on and off and is completely deterministic. [3]

A Qbit like your neurons has an on and off, and all the possibilities in between. In this manner a Qbit is a probabilistic mechanism and does not have a deterministic outcome...it allows us to 'experience' and 'dream' giving rise to consciousness through this dance of possibilities no matter how erroneous to reality they are.[4]

if and only if, you use a quantum (more than on/off) process in a computer can you achieve a computer that thinks like a person and experiences the range of emotions and illogical thought processes that plague human thought.

So you see it is not really the materials, but the implementation of the materials that is above our current technology level.






[1]Leonard Susskind, Stanford University, 2008, lectures on quantum mechanics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtBRKw1Ab7E&feature=relmfu

[2]Auvichayapat, P; Auvichayapat, N (2009). "Basic principle of transcranial magnetic stimulation". Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand 92 (11): 1560–6. PMID 19938752. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19938752

[3]classical bit
http://alumni.imsa.edu/~matth/quant/299/paper/node10.html

[4] quantum bit
http://alumni.imsa.edu/~matth/quant/299/paper/node13.html

This post has been edited by bar_room_physist on Jun 20 2011, 07:11 PM

yes of course,thoughts are based on experiences(input from senses).we cant think about anything which we haven't experienced.but in the situation i am describing,he has all the experiences,he has got input from the senses,but not getting any at the moment. you can visualize a red car with your eyes blindfolded right?same case with all other senses.now will the present environment affect your decision ?