hey you yes i'm talking to you are you absolutely sure you are a conscient being and not just
an algorithm programmed to watch this video and what about your pet sitting next to you
are you certain they know they're watching this video even if they won't understand it one bit
are you a hundred percent positive that at this moment you were indeed watching this video
is it definitely happening and you are not imagining it
are you conscious and if so have you ever wondered where your consciousness comes from
maybe the answer to that question is deeply hidden in the quantum realm welcome to fact
nominal and today let's find out if your consciousness originated in the quantum world
consciousness is loosely defined as knowledge and understanding that something is happening
or exists it allows us to be aware of our surroundings and our own mental physical
and emotional state it is quite interesting that we experience consciousness every day and all of
our experiences and knowledge come from being conscious however ironically we don't have full
knowledge or understanding of what consciousness is or where it comes from scientists have been
trying to understand this phenomenon for centuries and still they have no idea what makes a clear
blue sky feel serene but the screech of badly tuned violence doesn't we need a satisfying
scientific theory of consciousness that would predict under what conditions we experience
something and what is responsible for it is it a complex circuit of neurons or silicon transistors
or is it something else by figuring out the differences in sensations we can figure out
the functions that it fulfills moreover we will understand where consciousness comes from
is it in the brain can plants fungi or bacteria be conscious and most importantly a question
that has been troubling us since the movie terminator came out in 1987. can ai be conscious
we have been researching for years to understand the mapping of neuron interactions in the brain
to figure out how a three-pound organ with a consistency similar
to tofu can exude the feelings that is known as being alive
and we have come up with a couple of theories the global neuronal workspace theory asserts
that consciousness emerges when an entire physical system has access to information and processes it
in a particular way if that is correct then any computer program could become conscious not gonna
lie but how instagram skulks on everything in my phone it does give me the creep sometimes but then
again we aren't entirely sure if mark zuckerberg is an actual human or an already conscious ai
posing as a human the integrated information theory has a very contrasting opinion and proposes
that consciousness requires specialized physical structures that interact with the world it means
that there has to be a tangible organic vessel with sensory receptors to evolve consciousness and
therefore consciousness cannot be computed so we don't have any reason to fear the rise of skynet
integrated information theory further asserts that consciousness won't work in the form of an
algorithm in the same manner that a simulated black hole would not generate actual gravity
a solid point but just like global neuronal workspace theory integrated information theory
has some experimental evidence to support it but both are quite far from being confirmed in theory
artificial intelligence can be created using a quantum computer if that ai becomes self-aware its
consciousness would depend on the quantum effects of the quantum computer it is running on this
works well with the integrated information theory that consciousness requires a coherent physical
system however a self-aware quantum ai wouldn't prove that consciousness requires macroscopic
quantum effects to occur similarly according to the global neuronal workspace theory an ai
could become self-aware even if it was running on classical computers which is not the case here as
we need a quantum computer so it is quite possible that the real answer to the question what exactly
is consciousness could be a middle ground between the two theories or entirely somewhere else to
find that middle ground where the fundamental understanding of consciousness could lie we have
to look deep into the fundamental laws governing our universe quantum physics but to go there to
properly explore this possibility we need to first shortlist what we already know about consciousness
let's make one thing abundantly clear before diving deep into this rabbit hole
when we are talking about consciousness we are not referring to intelligence
the two concepts may seem related and also may be exclusively available to living beings still
there is a definitive difference intelligence is obvious for example we can say a simple inanimate
object like a rock can't be intelligent like the saying dumb as a rock it can be proven easily
just go and ask iraq what two plus two is and i can assure you it will not have the answer
nor will it get out of your way if you were to throw a sledgehammer at it
but can you prove the rock is not conscious that's where things get tricky there is no way to prove
if a rock has consciousness or not because it doesn't display any outward signs of awareness
but there is an argument that a rock should not have consciousness because it doesn't need it
according to this theory consciousness is exclusive to organisms as they likely evolved
it to survive awareness helps a life form in many ways finding nutrients locating mates monitoring
one's internal state reacting to threats and communicating and socializing with other organisms
to be honest awareness or consciousness enables unlimited possibilities and when
you put consciousness and intelligence together the horizon gets broader as conscious organisms
can think of new survival strategies and even develop traits like creativity and imagination
but we're not going to get into that we're asking a more primordial question at the moment
life intelligence and consciousness are emerging properties that occur when a group of things form
an atom itself isn't alive but when it forms an organic combination of carbon and some
other chemicals it does actually become alive similarly a single brain cell isn't intelligent
or self-aware but when you have enough of them working together firing neurons between them
they become sentient so as you can see complex phenomena like self-awareness or consciousness
arise from a simple process and that provides us two explanations we need our brains to be
conscious and the brain is made up of countless subatomic particles that all operate under the
quantum field theory therefore you could argue consciousness must derive from quantum mechanics
however this paralogism is a bit far-reaching because it establishes an indirect link between
consciousness and quantum mechanics it doesn't explain whether consciousness itself exhibits
quantum properties and so we need another explanation which details the quantum mechanics
behind the actual function of neurons inside the brain quantum physics asserts that particles don't
exist in just one place at a time the probability a particle will be observed that a specific
location is determined by its wave function wave functions are mathematical tools used to describe
individual particles as well as groups of particles when a particle or group of
particles is observed its wave function collapses to a single point this is sometimes misperceived
as consciousness allowing someone to collapse this wave function with their mind that is they
can change the reality with their consciousness what actually causes wave functions to collapse
has to do with what we mean when we say a particle is observed observing a particle really
means measuring its properties in some way which requires physical interaction between the particle
and the measurement device when the particle interacts with the measuring device the quantum
state of the particle becomes entangled with the quantum states of the particles composing or being
emitted by the measuring device as more particles get entangled together decoherence occurs
decoherence is responsible for the wave function collapsing and it's governed by the physical
interactions between particles the only known way for a conscious being to collapse a wave function
is to physically interact with it in some way so you can collapse a wave function with your mind
but it's the same as moving objects with your mind no no we aren't talking about telekinesis here
when you hear your phone ringing and you pick it up it's basically your mind telling you to grab
it and turn it on so in a way you are moving an object with your mind because your mind controls
your hand when an observer purposefully collapses the wave function of a particle their mind tells
their body to interact with it in some way this could be as simple as touching the particle or
as precise as operating a particle detector we live in a very large universe and particles are
constantly interacting with each other making the universe have its own incredibly complicated
wave function a person is a large group of particles as well large systems of particles
decohere so they don't exhibit the same quantum properties as the particles that make them up
however some special quantum phenomena do occur on the scale of living things quantum
biology is basically quantum physics behind the process is essential for living things to exist
evolve and survive plants have chromoplasts birds have specialized proteins to sense the earth's
magnetic field a quantum tunneling probably is the cause behind mutations occurring in dna
if we find macroscopic quantum effects essential to neural activity it would be an indicator that
the integrated information theory is correct and quantum mechanics is one of the essential
features a physical system must utilize to become conscious earlier in the video we discussed how
consciousness helps organisms to better sustain themselves macroscopic quantum effects have
been proposed as a possible requirement for conscious systems and there are multiple ways
they might occur among neurons in the brain if we dig deeper into quantum biology we may
unlock how the most basic law of the entire universe allows us to experience free will
how we use that information is totally on us many suggest that it could change humanity forever
so what do you think are we related to the universe on a quantum level
tell us in the comments and as always thanks for watching fact nominal