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Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation
Why the Holy Grail of Physics, a "Theory of Everything," May Have to Include the Conscious Mind
George Musser(0)
About
A revelatory exploration of why a "theory of everything" is likely to depend on a theory of mind.
The whole goal of physics is to explain what we observe. For centuries, physicists believed that observations yielded faithful representations of what is out there. But when they began to study the subatomic realm, they found that observation often interferes with what is being observed, that the act of seeing changes what we see. The same is true of cosmology: our view of the universe is inevitably distorted by observation bias. And so, whether they're studying subatomic particles or galaxies, physicists must first explain consciousness, and for that they must turn to neuroscientists and philosophers.
Neuroscientists have painstakingly built up an understanding of the structure of the brain. Could this help physicists understand the levels of self-organization they observe in other systems? These same physicists, meanwhile, are trying to explain how particles organize themselves into the objects around us. Could their discoveries help explain how neurons produce our conscious experience?
Exploring these questions and more, George Musser tackles the extraordinary interconnections between quantum mechanics, cosmology, and human consciousness. Combining vivid descriptive writing with portraits of scientists working on the cutting edge, “Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation” shows how theories of everything depend on theories of mind, and how they might be one and the same.
The whole goal of physics is to explain what we observe. For centuries, physicists believed that observations yielded faithful representations of what is out there. But when they began to study the subatomic realm, they found that observation often interferes with what is being observed, that the act of seeing changes what we see. The same is true of cosmology: our view of the universe is inevitably distorted by observation bias. And so, whether they're studying subatomic particles or galaxies, physicists must first explain consciousness, and for that they must turn to neuroscientists and philosophers.
Neuroscientists have painstakingly built up an understanding of the structure of the brain. Could this help physicists understand the levels of self-organization they observe in other systems? These same physicists, meanwhile, are trying to explain how particles organize themselves into the objects around us. Could their discoveries help explain how neurons produce our conscious experience?
Exploring these questions and more, George Musser tackles the extraordinary interconnections between quantum mechanics, cosmology, and human consciousness. Combining vivid descriptive writing with portraits of scientists working on the cutting edge, “Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation” shows how theories of everything depend on theories of mind, and how they might be one and the same.
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Reviews
"Musser knows that the point of popular science is [. . .] to get a sense of what's at stake, what kinds of answers are being offered to difficult questions, and why it all matters. One could not ask more of Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation"
on all three counts it delivers."
"Musser is to be applauded for tackling both consciousness and the quantum realm . . . [Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation] is readable and enthusiastic, packed with first-person anecdotes. It conveys as much about quantum theories of mind and IIT as it is possible to do without rolling up your mathematical sleeves and getting stuck into the equations."
Michael Wooldridge, Times Literary Supplement
"[Musser] has assembled a vast array of ideas from developments in artificial intelligence, heterodox interpretations of modern physics, and philosophies of science and mind, and has interviewed many of the scientists and philosophers behind these theories . . . Musser broaches an impressive array of topics, including quantum gravity, causation, statistical mechanics, personal identity, free will
why not?