Abstract
The conundrum with current models of consciousness is that they either deny consciousness its own causal role, defying everyday experience and phenomenology, or they concede consciousness its own causal activity, without explaining a potential interaction. While the first, physicalist, option is very much in line with most current reasoning within neuroscience it faces serious theoretical problems and has to exclude a range of phenomena in order to be convincing. The second, dualist model, is phenomenologically more satisfying, but cannot explain how such an interaction might work. This problem has beset philosophy since Descartes. We propose here a model that is ontologically monist, in line with the general intuition of the natural sciences, and at the same time phenomenologically dualist, true to our subjective experience. This is possible if we follow the track laid out by Generalized or Weak Quantum Theory. Such a model predicts generalized entanglement. This can be seen as a coordinating notion aligning two systems through a generalized non-local correlation. Using this model one can easily conceive of the mind-body relationship as a form of generalized entanglement correlating two systems with each other. In an extension, the same mechanism can be used to redefine spirituality as a coordination of single individuals with one Whole.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Exactly what this “alignment” means would have to bet he content of another chapter, if not book. It likely means to bring tendencies of individualisation or separation in conformity or balance with the whole.
References
Aftanas, L.I., & Golocheikine, S.A. (2001). Human anterior and frontal midline theta and lower alpha reflect emotionally positive state and internalized attention: High-resolution EEG investigation of meditation. Neuroscience Letters, 310, 57–60.
Aftanas, L.I., & Golocheikine, S.A. (2002). Non-linear dynamic complexity of the human EEG during meditation. Neuroscience Letters, 330, 143–146.
Alkire, M.T., Hudetz, A.G., & Tononi, G. (2008). Consciousness and anesthesia. Science, 322(5903), 876–880.
Atmanspacher, H. (1996). Erkenntnistheoretische Aspekte physikalischer Vorstellungen von Ganzheit. Zeitschrift für Parapsychologie und Grenzgebiete der Psychologie, 38, 20–45.
Atmanspacher, H. (2003). Mind and matter as asymptotically disjoint, inequivalent representations with broken time-reversal symmetry. Biosystems, 68, 19–30.
Atmanspacher, H., Römer, H., & Walach, H. (2002). Weak quantum theory: Complementarity and entanglement in physics and beyond. Foundations of Physics, 32, 379–406.
Baianu, I.C., & Poli, R. (in press). From simple to highly-complex systems: A paradigm shift towards non-Abelian emergent system dynamics and meta-levels. In B. Iantovics (Ed.), Conference Proceedings: Understanding Intelligent and Complex System. Alba Iulia: Acta Universitatis Apulensis.
Bieri, P. (1989). Schmerz: Eine Fallstudie zum Leib-Seele-Problem. In E. Pöppel (Ed.), Gehirn und Bewusstsein (pp. 125–134). Weinheim: VCH.
Bieri, P. (1995). Why is consciousness puzzling? In T. Metzinger (Ed.), Conscious experience (pp. 45–60). Thorverton: Imprint Academic.
Chalmers, D. J. (1996). The conscious mind. In search of a fundamental theory. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Damasio, A.R. (1999). How the brain creates the mind. Scientific American, 281, 74–79.
Damasio, A. (2000). The feeling of what happens. Body, emotion, and the making of consciousness. London: Vintage.
Einstein, A., Podolsky, B., & Rosen, N. (1935). Can quantum-mechanical description of reality be considered complete? Physical Review, 47, 777–780.
Fahrenberg, J. (1992). Komplementarität in der psychophysiologischen Forschung. Grundsätze und Forschungspraxis. In E.P. Fischer, H.S. Herzka, & K.H. Reich (Eds.), Widersprüchliche Wirklichkeit. Neues Denken in Wissenschaft und Alltag: Komplementarität und Dialogik (pp. 43–77). München: Piper.
Filk, T., & Römer, H. (2011). Generalized quantum theory: Overview and latest developments. Axiomathes, 21, 211–220.
Hoche, H.-U. (1990). Einführung in das sprachanalytische Philosophieren. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Hoche, H.-U. (2008). Anthropological complementarism. Linguistic, logical, and phenomenological studies in support of a third way beyond dualism and monism. Paderborn: Mentis Verlag.
Kronz, F.M., & Tiehen, J.T. (2002). Emergence and quantum mechanics. Philosophy of Science, 69, 324–347.
Leibniz, G. W. (1966). Betrachtungen über die Lebensprinzipien und über die plastischen Naturen. In E.Cassirer (Ed.), Hauptschriften zur Grundlegung der Philosophie (pp. 63–73). Hamburg: Meiner.
Libet, B. (1999). Do we have free will? Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6, 47–57.
Lucadou, Wv, Römer, H., & Walach, H. (2007). Synchronistic phenomena as entanglement correlations in generalized quantum theory. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 14, 50–74.
Maturana, H.R. (1980). Autopoiesis: Reproduction, heredity, and evolution. In M. Zeleny (Ed.), Autopoiesis, dissipative structures and spontaneous social order (pp. 45–79). Boulder: Westview.
Metzinger, T. (2000). Neural correlates of consciousness: Empirical and conceptual questions. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Metzinger, T. (2003). Being no one: The self-model theory of subjectivity. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Meyer-Abich, K.M. (1965). Korrespondenz, Individualität und Komplementarität. Wiesbaden: Steiner.
Petsche, H., & Brazier, M.A.B. (Eds.). (1972). Synchronization of EEG activity in epilepsies. Wien: Springer.
Primas, H. (2003). Time-entanglement between mind and matter. Mind and Matter, 1, 81–121.
Römer, H. (2004). Weak quantum theory and the emergence of time. Mind and Matter, 2(2), 105–125.
Römer, H. (2011). Verschränkung. In M. Knaup, T. Müller & P. Spät (Eds.), Post-Physikalismus (pp. 87–121). Freiburg: Karl Alber.
Ross, C.A., & Joshi, S. (1992). Paranormal experiences in the general population. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180, 357–361.
Salart, D., Baas, A., Branciard, C., Gisin, N., & Zbinden, H. (2008). Testing spooky actions at a distance. Nature, 454, 861–864.
Schmidt, S., Schneider, R., Utts, J., & Walach, H. (2004). Remote intention on electrodermal activity – Two meta-analyses. British Journal of Psychology, 95, 235–247.
Schrödinger, E. (1935). Discussion of probability relations between separated systems. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 31, 555–563.
Schwartz, J.M., Stapp, H.P., & Beauregard, M. (2005). Quantum physics in neuroscience and psychology: A neurophysiological model of mind-brain interaction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 1458, 1309–1328.
Searle, J.R. (1992). The rediscovery of the mind. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
Tononi, G. (2004). An information integration theory of consciousness. BMC Neuroscience, 5, 42.
Utts, J. (1996). An assessment of the evidence for psychic functioning. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 10, 3–39.
van Gulick, R. (2001). Reduction, emergence and other recent options on the mind/body problem. A philosophical overview. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 8, 1–34.
Walach, H. (2003). Entanglement model of homeopathy as an example of generalizsed entanglement predicted by weak quantum theory. Forschende Komplementärmedizin und Klassische Naturheilkunde, 10, 192–200.
Walach, H. (2005). Generalized entanglement: A new theoretical model for understanding the effects of complementary and alternative medicine. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 11, 549–559.
Walach, H. (2007a). Generalisierte Verschränkung – Ein theoretisches Modell zum Verständnis von Übertragungsphänomenen. Zeitschrift für Psychotraumatologie, Psychotherapiewissenschaft, Psychologische Medizin, 5, 9–23.
Walach, H. (2007b). Mind – body – spirituality. Mind and Matter, 5, 215–240.
Walach, H., & Schmidt, S. (2005). Repairing Plato’s life boat with Ockham’s razor: The important function of research in anomalies for mainstream science. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 12(2), 52–70.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Netherlands
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Walach, H., Römer, H. (2011). Generalized Entanglement – A Nonreductive Option for a Phenomenologically Dualist and Ontologically Monist View of Consciousness. In: Walach, H., Schmidt, S., Jonas, W. (eds) Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality. Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2079-4_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2079-4_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-2078-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-2079-4
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)