The Quantum Dance: From a Cloud of Dust to the Spark of Thought
Imagine a cloud of dust floating in a sunbeam, its tiny particles
drifting and catching the light as they swirl. Like a dust bunny, if
you try to poke it, it will blow away. But now, imagine zooming in
closer and closer—not just to see the dust particles themselves, but
to peer inside them.
Shrink those particles down to the size of atoms, and even further,
to the electrons, protons, and neutrons that make up each atom. At
this unimaginably small scale, the world begins to behave in strange
and unpredictable ways. This is the quantum realm—a place where
particles can vanish and reappear, exist in two states at once, or
behave like rippling waves.
The Quantum World Inside the Dust Cloud
Let’s take a closer look at this dust cloud. At the atomic level,
the electrons orbiting each nucleus don’t behave like planets circling
a sun. Instead, they form "clouds" of probability. These clouds don’t
tell us exactly where the electrons are but instead show where they
might be if we were to look. The strange thing is, as soon as we
observe these particles, their behavior changes. Before we look, the
particles act like waves—spreading out, overlapping, and interfering
with one another. But the moment we measure them, they suddenly snap
into focus as particles, as if responding to our attention.
Inside this dust cloud, there’s even more mystery. Some particles
are "entangled," meaning their properties are connected. Change one
particle, and the other instantly changes too, no matter how far apart
they are. It’s as if the particles are communicating instantaneously,
whispering across the universe in ways we don’t fully understand.
There’s also quantum tunneling—where particles defy logic and slip
through barriers they shouldn’t be able to cross. It’s as though they
find a secret shortcut through reality itself.
An Imaginary View of a Quantum Physics Particle
From Dust to the Brain: The Microtubule Connection
Now let’s take this dust cloud and place it inside the
human body. Specifically, let’s zoom in on the cells in the
human brain. Within these cells, there are tiny structures
called microtubules. These are hollow, cylindrical frameworks
made of proteins called tubulin, arranged in a spiral pattern.
Microtubules support the cell and help with essential tasks,
like transporting nutrients. But in the brain, microtubules
may do something far more extraordinary.
Inside the microtubules, the atoms in the tubulin proteins
display unique quantum behavior. When stimulated, they emit
faint blue light, a phenomenon called biophoton emission.
These tiny flashes of light could play a role in how cells
communicate. Imagine each microtubule as a glowing fiber-optic
cable, transmitting not just biological signals but possibly
quantum information.
The atoms within the microtubules vibrate and exchange
energy, and some researchers believe they might even exhibit
quantum coherence—working together in perfect harmony, like
musicians in a symphony. This coherence could allow
information to flow through the brain in ways that traditional
neuroscience cannot explain.
The Curious Case of the Transparent Pollywogs
To see how this might work, let’s look at an experiment with
transparent pollywogs. These tiny, see-through creatures allow
scientists to observe their brains in real-time. When exposed to
ultraviolet (UV) light, the pollywogs are instantly rendered
unconscious. What’s happening? The UV light interacts with the
microtubules in their brain cells, disrupting their function. Some
researchers believe this could be because the light interferes with
the delicate quantum states inside the microtubules, effectively
"turning off" the brain. It’s as though the quantum machinery of the
brain is paused, causing the pollywog to lose awareness.
If microtubules are indeed capable of quantum
computation—processing information in ways that classical physics
cannot—this might explain some of the brain’s most mysterious
abilities. Thoughts, memories, and even the sense of self could arise
not just from electrical signals but from the interplay of quantum
forces. Imagine your brain as a glowing network of microtubules, where
each thought is a flash of blue light, a wave of coherence spreading
through the lattice of tubulin proteins. It’s like a quantum dance
taking place within your neurons.
This idea is part of the Orch-OR Theory, developed by physicist
Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff. They propose that
quantum processes in microtubules might be the key to understanding
consciousness. While this idea is still controversial, it sparks the
imagination and invites us to reconsider the nature of life and the
mind.
From a cloud of dust to the inner workings of the brain, the quantum
world is filled with mystery. In the dust cloud, particles behave like
waves, communicate across vast distances, and tunnel through barriers.
In the brain, similar quantum principles might illuminate how we
think, feel, and experience the world. Perhaps we are not just
biological machines but quantum beings, with minds that glow like the
blue light in microtubules, shaped by the strange and beautiful rules
of the quantum world.
A Deeper Discussion
YouTube Links to Quantum Physics and Consciousness
Was Penrose
RIght? NEW EVIDENCE For Quantum Effects In The Brain
Sir Roger
Penrose & Dr. Stuart Hameroff: CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE PHYSICS OF THE
BRAIN
Consciousness
pre-dates life | Professor Stuart Hameroff, Roger Penrose's Long-Time
Collaborator
Sir Roger
Penrose & Stuart Hameroff: What is Consciousness? Part 1 (247)
Anton Petrov:
Is Human Consciousness a Quantum Physics Phenomenon? --New Unexpected
Evidence
Justin
Riddle: Orchestrated Objective Reduction: Presenting the Hameroff-Penrose
Model
World Science
Festival: Quantum Biology, the Hidden Nature of Nature. Discussion
Group
Microtubules
To begin, let’s understand the biological structure of
microtubules in more depth. Microtubules are long, cylindrical
structures made of repeating protein subunits called
tubulin dimers. Each dimer consists of two parts:
alpha-tubulin and beta-tubulin. These dimers stack together in a
helical pattern to form the walls of the microtubule. In neurons,
microtubules are essential for transmitting signals and moving
molecules like neurotransmitters from one part of the cell to
another. However, they may do much more than just act as
structural components.
Zooming into Tubulin: The Quantum Switch
Each tubulin dimer has regions that can exist in different
energy states. This can be compared to a light switch that can
toggle between "on" and "off," but in quantum mechanics, it’s more
like a switch that can also be both "on" and "off"
simultaneously—a phenomenon known as quantum superposition.
The ability of tubulin to exist in superposition may allow it to
act as a tiny unit of quantum information, or a "qubit," much like
in a quantum computer.
Quantum Coherence in Microtubules
For quantum effects like superposition to be useful in
information processing, particles need to maintain a state of
quantum coherence. Coherence means that the
quantum states of particles (such as the energy states of tubulin)
stay synchronized and connected. Normally, coherence is difficult
to maintain in warm, noisy environments like the brain. However,
microtubules might have properties that protect quantum states.
Microtubules’ cylindrical structure creates an environment
where interactions between tubulin proteins could shield quantum
states from being disrupted. Additionally, the arrangement of
tubulin dimers in a helical pattern might enable them to "talk" to
each other through quantum effects, such as quantum
entanglement. Entanglement is when particles become
deeply connected, such that a change in one particle instantly
affects the other, no matter how far apart they are.
The Orch-OR Theory: A Quantum Framework for
Consciousness
The Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR) Theory
was proposed by physicist Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist
Stuart Hameroff. It suggests that microtubules serve as the
quantum processors of the brain. In this framework, tubulin
proteins in microtubules interact through quantum processes, and
their collective behavior creates patterns of quantum information
processing.
A key idea in Orch-OR is that these quantum processes are not
random. Instead, they are "orchestrated" by the structure and
dynamics of the microtubules. This orchestration could enable
complex information processing and contribute to the emergence of
consciousness. The "Objective Reduction" part of the theory comes
from Penrose's idea that quantum superpositions collapse in a way
that aligns with the fundamental structure of spacetime, linking
consciousness to the fabric of the universe itself.
Challenges and Criticism
It used to be that one major challenge to Orch-OR is the question of whether
quantum coherence can exist in the warm, wet environment of the
brain. Recent experiments has confirm that it actually is there.
Previously quantum states were thought to be notoriously delicate and are easily
disrupted by heat and noise, a phenomenon called
decoherence. Watch the
Anton Petrov video that shows this does not happen.
The Quantum Role in Decision-Making and Awareness
If quantum mechanics does play a role in microtubules, it could
help explain the brain’s remarkable ability to process vast
amounts of information, make decisions, and generate subjective
experiences. Classical neuroscience describes neurons firing and
forming networks to transmit electrical and chemical signals. But
this doesn’t fully explain how the brain creates awareness
or consciousness—the sense of "being you."
Quantum processes in microtubules might allow for a level of
computation and connectivity that classical physics cannot
achieve. For instance, the ability of tubulin to exist in multiple
states simultaneously (superposition) could allow the brain to
explore multiple possibilities at once, enabling creative
problem-solving and decision-making. Entanglement might create a
kind of instantaneous communication between distant parts of the
brain, facilitating the integration of information.
Implications for Consciousness
The idea that quantum mechanics is involved in consciousness
has profound implications. It suggests that consciousness is not
just an emergent property of classical brain activity but may be
linked to the fundamental nature of reality itself. If
consciousness arises from quantum processes, it could mean that
our minds are connected to the universe in a deeper way than we
currently understand.
This also raises philosophical questions. If quantum effects
are involved in the brain, does this mean free will is influenced
by quantum randomness? Does this mean that consciousness could
exist beyond the physical brain, given that quantum processes are
not bound by classical physical limits?
Connecting to Real-Life Applications
Quantum biology has already showing that it exists for some
time. For example, quantum coherence has been observed in
photosynthesis, where it helps plants harvest light energy with
near-perfect efficiency. Similarly, quantum effects might play a
role in bird navigation and enzyme reactions. These discoveries
suggest that biology has evolved ways to harness quantum
mechanics, and the brain might be the most sophisticated example.
