Stuart Hameroff: Penrose's Quantum Consciousness Theory Explained

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Physics, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2021

⏱️ 138 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Stuart Hameroff discusses his quantum microtubule theory of consciousness with Roger Penrose, exploring self‑similarity, Gödel’s theorem, and the hard problem. The conversation also tackles free will, quantum computing, and the relationship between cognition and consciousness.- 00:00:00 - Introduction- 00:02:18 - Fast and adroit question- 00:02:58 - Personal beliefs about God- 00:03:44 - Origin of consciousness in microtubules- 00:08:55 - Non‑computational nature of consciousness- 00:11:56 - Gödel’s theorem and quantum gravity- 00:16:54 - Quantum computers and Frolich resonances- 00:19:25 - Penrose’s role- 00:23:45 - David Chalmers talk reference- 00:26:33 - Penrose modifies ideas- 00:28:04 - Vibrations of consciousness (gamma)- 00:32:00 - Collapse time calculations- 00:38:07 - Myth of the 1% brain- 00:41:33 - Neuron firing rates under psychedelics- 00:46:42 - Cognition vs consciousness order- 00:48:27 - Anesthesia and truth serums- 00:50:04 - Working with Penrose- 00:57:00 - Free will as backward‑time travel- 01:01:36 - Dennett’s comment- 01:02:33 - Agreements/disagreements with Penrose- 01:06:16 - Explaining isolated systems, quantum phases- 01:11:40 - Explaining benzene rings etc.- 01:13:08 - Microtubule structure- 01:17:33 - Tau proteins and Alzheimer’s- 01:17:00 - Fractals and self‑similarity- 01:20:06 - Quantifying consciousness with anesthesia- 01:21:42 - Glial vs neuron roles- 01:24:08 - Can quantum computers be conscious?- 01:28:55 - Periodicity requirement- 01:29:41 - IIT vs Global Neuronal vs Orch OR- 01:33:57 - Falsifying Orch OR- 01:37:00 - Koch’s Schrödinger cat thought experiment- 01:38:01 - Platonic Forms connection- 01:40:12 - Curt’s favorite about Orch OR- 01:42:52 - Experiencing “nothing”- 01:43:55 - Comparing Wolfram’s theory- 01:45:00 - Penrose solving hard problem- 01:47:07 - Existence of free will- 01:48:15 - Strong vs weak anthropic principleSPONSORS:- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal- PayPal: https://bit.ly/2EOR0M4- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e- Google Podcasts: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Id3k7k7mfzahfx2fjqmw3vufb44RESOURCES:- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/uLo0Zwe579g- TOE Clippings: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdITf9DoFmndXy7nXWIoa7g- Discord Invite Code (as of Mar 04 2021): dmGgQ2dRzS- Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. SPONSOR: I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right, hello, toe listeners, Kurt here.
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1:03.3	Today's guest is Stuart Hammeroff, who along with Roger Penrose, has a theory of consciousness.
1:08.3	What's particularly interesting is that Roger Penrose is a rigorous
1:11.6	physicist bordering on mathematician, which means even more
1:15.2	rigor.
1:15.7	And generally speaking, those people tend to stay away
1:18.3	from theories of consciousness that aren't simply
	...

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