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From Quantum Axiomatics to Quantum Conceptuality

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Activitas Nervosa Superior

Abstract

Since its inception, many physicists have seen in quantum mechanics the possibility, if not the necessity, of bringing cognitive aspects into the play, which were instead absent, or unnoticed, in the previous classical theories. In this article, we outline the path that led us to support the hypothesis that our physical reality is fundamentally conceptual-like and cognitivistic-like. However, contrary to the “abstract ego hypothesis” introduced by John von Neumann and further explored, in more recent times, by Henry Stapp, our approach does not rely on the measurement problem as expressing a possible “gap in physical causation,” which would point to a reality lying beyond the mind-matter distinction. On the contrary, in our approach, the measurement problem is considered to be essentially solved, at least for what concerns the origin of quantum probabilities, which we have reasons to believe they would be epistemic. Our conclusion that conceptuality and cognition would be an integral part of all physical processes comes instead from the observation of the striking similarities between the non-spatial behavior of the quantum micro-physical entities and that of the human concepts. This gave birth to a new interpretation of quantum mechanics, called the “conceptuality interpretation,” currently under investigation within our group in Brussels.

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Notes

  1. Regarding this free choice aspect, Stapp (2009) writes: This choice is sometimes called the “Heisenberg choice,” because Heisenberg emphasized strongly its crucial role in quantum dynamics. At the pragmatic level it is a “free choice,” because it is controlled, at least at the practical level, by the conscious intentions of the experimenter/participant: neither the Copenhagen nor von Neumann formulations specify the causal origins of this choice, apart from the conscious intentions of the human agent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Brussels Free University, Krijgskundestraat 33, 1160, Brussels, Belgium

    Diederik Aerts, Massimiliano Sassoli de Bianchi & Tomas Veloz

  2. Laboratorio di Autoricerca di Base, Lugano, Switzerland

    Massimiliano Sassoli de Bianchi

  3. School of Business and IQSCS, University of Leicester, University Road, LE1 7RH, Leicester, UK

    Sandro Sozzo

  4. Instituto de Filosofía y Ciencias de la Complejidad IFICC, Los Alerces 3024, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile

    Tomas Veloz

  5. Departamento Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad Ciencias de la vida, Universidad Andres Bello, 8370146, Santiago, Chile

    Tomas Veloz

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  1. Diederik Aerts
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  2. Massimiliano Sassoli de Bianchi
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  3. Sandro Sozzo
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  4. Tomas Veloz
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Correspondence to Sandro Sozzo.

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Submitted to a special issue of Activitas Nervosa Superior: Brain, Mind and Cognition, dedicated to Henry Stapp in honor of his 90th birthday.

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Aerts, D., Sassoli de Bianchi, M., Sozzo, S. et al. From Quantum Axiomatics to Quantum Conceptuality. Act Nerv Super 61, 76–82 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41470-019-00030-7

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