Abstract
The physical universe is made up of objects and events in space and time. We refer to them collectively as Things. How does the human mind convert things in the observed universe, into laws? What role does our consciousness play in this conversion process? We propose that the dynamic pathways connecting the neurons in our brains have a dual interpretation, as a thing-law. The pathways are things, by virtue of their material nature. However, our consciousness also accords a pathway the interpretation of a law, which could be a thought, an idea, an emotion, a number, a geometrical figure, a physical law, or a mathematical theorem. The mind’s conversion of things into laws is what we call the horizontal fundamental. But are laws different from things? In the emergent complex universe, apparently yes. However, as we dig deeper and deeper into the reductionist layers of reality, a process we call the vertical fundamental, laws and things become more and more like each other, until deepest down, they become one and the same.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Singh, T.: Enlightenment is not for the Buddha alone. In: Aguirre, A., Foster, B., Merali, Z. (eds.) How Should Humanity Steer the Future? (2014). https://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/2043
Gadye, L.: How do brains evolve? (2014). https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-did-brains-evolve-1653897356
Hawkins, J.: How brain science will change computing? (2003). https://www.ted.com/talks/jeffhawkinsonhowbrainsciencewillchangecomputing
Seung, S.: I am my connectome (2010). https://www.ted.com/talks/sebastian-seung/discussion
Lagarias, J.C. (ed.): The Ultimate Challenge: The 3x+1 Problem. American Mathematical Society, Providence (2011)
Singh, T.: Quantum mechanics without space-time: a case for non-commutative geometry. In: Based on a Talk Given at the 4th International Symposium on Quantum Theory and Symmetries and 6th International Workshop on Lie Theory and Its Applications in Physics, Varna, Bulgaria (2005); Bulg. J. Phys. 33, 217 (2006). arXiv:0510042
Lochan, K., Singh, T.: Trace dynamics and a non-commutative special relativity. Phys. Lett. A375, 3747–3750 (2011). arXiv:1109.0300
Lochan, K., Satin, S., Singh, T.: Statistical thermodynamics for a non-commutative special relativity: emergence of a generalized quantum dynamics. Found. Phys. 42, 1556–1572 (2012). arXiv:1203.6518
Singh, T.: The problem of time and the problem of quantum measurement, In: Filk, T., von Muller, A. (eds.) Based on a Talk Given at Quantum Malta 2012, published in ‘Re-thinking time at the interface of physics and philosophy’. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland (2015). arXiv:1210.8110
Penrose, R.: The Emperor’s New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and the Laws of Physics. Oxford Landmark Science. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1999)
Singh, T.: Wave function collapse, non-locality, and space-time structure. In: Gao, S. (eds.) Collapse of the Wave Function. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2018). arXiv:1701.09132
Singh, T.: Quantum theory and the structure of space-time (2017). arXiv:1707.01012. Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung A 73, 773 (2018)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Singh, T.P. (2019). Things, Laws, and the Human Mind. In: Aguirre, A., Foster, B., Merali, Z. (eds) What is Fundamental?. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11301-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11301-8_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11300-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-11301-8
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)