Evolutionary quantum theory and the physical representation of awareness
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If one assumes that our brain consists of nothing more than a set neurons exchanging signals with each other, one should be really astonished that this set of neurons is able to generate a fascinating world in which one can experience things like a symphony of Mozart, the beautiful colours of a sunset, the smell of a rose or thoughts and feelings. From the scientific point of view one can ask, why does the brain generate this world only if one is awake and not if one is sleeping (in both cases the neurons are active), or more exactly, which is the physical phenomenon generating awareness and how awareness is represented in the physical world. The phenomenon of awareness has attracted more and more the scientific interest in the last decade mainly due to the progress of neuroscience in understanding neural processes. Neuroscientist investigate e. g. how a perceived visual object is represented by the corresponding activated neurons in the visual system or what distinguishes the neural activity if one is awake or sleeping. Another way to approach to the phenomenon of awareness is a physical one. It is easy to show that classical physics is not a suitable basis for a theory of awareness. E. g. the fact that one can be aware of different aspects of the same object at the same time (e. g. the colour and the shape of a flower) can not be understood within the world picture of classical physics. Several physicists believe therefore that the phenomenon of awareness can only be understood on a quantum mechanical basis.