What is Consciousness? Consciousness is the ability of people to perceive the environment and self and the clarity of cognition, consciousness is everything you experience, consciousness contains everything that exists and becomes a human being, everyone can prove its existence, but it is difficult to describe or quantify it scientifically, this has always been one of the great mysteries of science.
A new research paper published in the prestigious journal Neuroscience of Consciousness, entitled: "Integrated Information in the Brain's Electromagnetic Field: A Theory of the Electromagnetic Information Field of Consciousness", states that human consciousness is generated by the brain's "energy field" called the electromagnetic information field (CEMI), which comes from electrical signals from neurons in the human brain organ. Human consciousness may be generated by electromagnetic fields generated by neurons in the brain. This theory provides a new perspective for our understanding of the nature of consciousness.
1. Interdisciplinary Convergence: This research brings together knowledge from fields such as neuroscience, biology, and physics, demonstrating the potential of interdisciplinary research in solving complex problems.
2. The Quantum Biology Connection: Professor McFadden's research is related to quantum biology, suggesting that quantum effects may play an important role in biological processes, including the generation of consciousness.
3. The Physical Basis of Consciousness: If consciousness is indeed generated by the electromagnetic fields of the brain's neurons, this will provide a physical basis for consciousness that will help us gain a deeper understanding of how consciousness interacts with the physical structure and function of the brain.
4. Implications for free will: This study raises the idea that free will may be related to the electromagnetic field produced by the brain, which could have implications for discussions about free will in philosophy and ethics.
5. Impact on AI: If the electromagnetic information field theory proves to be correct, it could have important implications for the field of AI, particularly in designing machines with conscious or consciousness-like features.
6. The Challenge of Scientific Dualism: The theory of electromagnetic information fields proposes a scientific dualism that may challenge the traditional dualism of matter and spirit, providing a new framework for our understanding of human experience.
7. Untested predictions and further research: The untested predictions mentioned in the paper need to be verified through experiments and further research. This may include the study of specific mechanisms by which electromagnetic fields affect neural activity and consciousness.
8. Philosophical and Theological Implications: This theory may have a profound impact on philosophical and theological discussions about consciousness, the self, and the nature of being.
9. Potential implications for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders: If consciousness is associated with electromagnetic fields, this may provide new avenues for the diagnosis and treatment of certain neurological disorders.
10. Bridging Science with Public Understanding: This research may help the public better understand the scientific basis of consciousness and facilitate a dialogue between science and everyday life.
In conclusion, this study presents a fascinating theory, but it needs more experimental evidence and theoretical development to support it. If this theory is confirmed, it could have a revolutionary impact on the way we understand human consciousness.
Before introducing the research results of this paper, let's briefly introduce the author of the research paper: Johnjoe McFadden, a well-known professor of molecular biology at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, is famous for his research on the diagnosis of brain diseases, quantum biology, and systems biology, and has published more than 100 papers and authored more than a dozen books, including the widely popular "Life on the Edge: The Coming of Quantum Biology", "Quantum Evolution", "Human Nature: Fact and Fiction" and other works.
The book Quantum Evolution, which explores the role of quantum mechanics in life, evolution, and consciousness, has been evaluated as offering an alternative evolutionary mechanism that goes beyond the neo-Darwinian framework. The book Human Nature: Fact and Fiction explores the insights of science and literature into human nature. Co-authored with renowned quantum theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, Life on the Margins: The Coming of Quantum Biology explores quantum biology, particularly in photosynthesis, enzyme catalysis, avian navigation, olfaction, mutation, and neurobiology, and is translated into Chinese as Unraveling the Mystery of Life: Using Quantum Biology to Uncover the Origin and Truth of Life.
In his research paper, McFadden points out that the electromagnetic signals of neurons are the key to consciousness, and that these signals are known to create electric fields around organs, which is the basic reason for the ability to create our minds and "free will", and that the electromagnetic fields produced by neurons in the brain are this unique characteristic that humans have.
For thousands of years, he said, philosophers, theologians, mystics, and ordinary people have been thinking about how the brain is aware of and trying to understand the mystery. "I believe that this mystery has now been solved, that consciousness is the experience of nerves inserting into the brain to generate electromagnetic fields to drive what we call "free will" and our voluntary actions. ”
Much of the brain's function remains a mystery, but scientists do know that it is also a well-established fact that information is transmitted through special cells called neurons through tiny electrical signals, and as a result, the brain produces a small electromagnetic field.
In the article, he explains that such electromagnetic fields are created by the information that makes up a person and are a by-product of every thought, movement, and process. As such, he argues, this is the core that constitutes consciousness, drives free will, and all voluntary behavior.
How is the research paper concretely demonstrated? Let's give a brief introduction. A key aspect of consciousness is that it represents bound or integrated information, which has led to a growing conviction that the physical basis of consciousness must be able to encode integrated information in the brain.
The study points out that almost all examples of so-called "integrated information", including neuronal information processing and conventional computation, are only temporally integrated, i.e., the output is associated with multiple inputs: information integration is achieved in time rather than space. Therefore, only an energy field can integrate information in space.
Figure (a) illustrates how the single bit output of an AND gate logic gate accumulates the two bits of information encoded in its two inputs to output a single bit representing the gate input. In fact, accumulation is causal in the sense that the state of the output bit at time t2 depends on the two input bits at time t1. (b) Illustrate how dynamic electromagnetic field information integrates information and acts as logic gates. The AND gate shown has two inputs and one output, each encoded as zero or 1 at time t1. The inputs are dipoles that act as emitters of electromagnetic fields, and they oscillate between two states (excited (corresponding to an oscillation of input = 1) or non-excited (not oscillating, a state of input = 0). The output is then an electromagnetic field receiver that performs the AND rule to output the signal.
As shown in the figure, (a) Schematic diagram of the two hemispheres of the brain connected by bundles of nerve fibers (double-headed arrows). Each hemisphere has its own neuron/synaptic connection, represented by a straight line, while a hollow circle arrow represents a recursive neuronal pathway whose synchronous trigger network generates a conscious electromagnetic field perturbation, represented by a curved arrow. By oscillating by assembling adjacent neurons, waves that synchronously excite the neuronal network (thus generating conscious thoughts) can travel long distances in the brain, for example, from the right hemisphere, through the corpus callosum to the left hemisphere of the speech center. This allows conscious minds, which originated in the right hemisphere, to communicate with the outside world through speech. In contrast, EMF perturbations are highly localized, so they cannot be transmitted over long distances unless reinforced by the relay of synchronous neurons that form recurrent networks. (b) Cutting off the callosum prevents conscious thoughts from the right hemisphere to the left hemisphere, as they are no longer able to propagate through the neuromediators of the recirculating network of neuronal oscillations.
Wave-particle synthesis information is shown in the figure. The wave behavior of particles (black circles) is confined to their de Broglie wavelengths, corresponding to massive particles (e.g., protons, atoms, and molecules, bottom row), smaller mass particles (e.g., electrons, middle row), and massless particles (e.g., photons, upper row). The shade of gray represents an area of superimposed particle information in which the information is considered physically integrated.
The paper describes the Conscious Electromagnetic Information (CEMI) field theory, which proposes that consciousness is physically integrated and causally active, is information encoded in the brain's global electromagnetic field, proves that consciousness is implemented in space rather than time within the electromagnetic field of the brain, describes how electromagnetic information field theory explains most observed features of consciousness, and describes recent experimental support for this theory.
The paper also describes some of the untested predictions of the theory, discussing its impact on the design of artificial consciousness. Electromagnetic information field theory proposes a scientific dualism that originates from the difference between matter and energy, not between matter and spirit.