QUANTUM PHYSICS AND CONSCIOUSNESS, CREATIVITY, COMPUTERS - A COMMENTARY ON GOSWAMI QUANTUM-BASED THEORY OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND FREE WILL

Goswami (1990, 1993) proposes to replace the current scientific paradigm of physical realism with that of a quantum-based monistic idealism and, in the process, accomplish the following goals: (a) establish a basis for explaining consciousness, (b) reintegrate spirituality, mysticism, morality, a sense that the universe is meaningful, etc., with scientific discoveries and the scientific enterprise, and (c) support the assumption that humans possess free will - i.e., that they are not controlled by the apparently inexorable causality of the physical laws that govern the functioning of their brains. Here, we critically examine this approach, from an artificial intelligence and neural network perspective, and point out what appear to be some inherent weaknesses in Goswami's arguments.