menu Home chevron_right
SCIENCE

Can Neuroscience Settle a 100-Year-Old Quantum Debate?

Essentia Foundation | November 2, 2025



Dr. Kelvin McQueen, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Chapman University, examines the leading quantum-consciousness theories and the unresolved questions that still hinder them all: what exactly is collapse, and what counts as a measurement?

Building on his work with David Chalmers, McQueen argues that the neuroscience of Integrated Information Theory (IIT), with it’s definition of consciousness as intrinsic causal integration (quantified by Φ), offers a novel way forward.

Relevant papers and links:
“Consciousness and the Collapse of the Wave Function”, David J. Chalmers, Kelvin J. McQueen: https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.02314

“Agency cannot be a purely quantum phenomenon”, Emily C. Adlam, Kelvin J. McQueen, Mordecai Waegell: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.13247

“Testing the Conjecture That Quantum Processes Create Conscious Experience”, Hartmut Neven, Adam Zalcman,, Peter Read, Kenneth S Kosik, Tjitse van der Molen, Dirk Bouwmeester, Eve Bodnia, Luca Turin, Christof Koch : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38920469/

Understanding Integrated Information Theory: https://www.iit.wiki/
https://kelvinmcqueen.com/
https://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/kelvin-mcqueen.aspx

Topics discussed:
00:00 Introduction
03:02 What’s the relationship between quantum mechanics and consciousness?
05:31 Von Neumann and Wigner’s early ideas
06:59 The human observer as a measurement device
08:20 What is measurement and what is collapse?
09:25 The von Neumann chain and Wigner’s extension
10:35 The Wigner’s Friend paradox
12:54 How Many Worlds resolves the measurement problem
15:28 How many physicists favor the Many-Worlds interpretation?
17:25 Can the Many-Worlds view be tested?
18:14 A critique of the Everettian view
21:16 Is the Many-Worlds view static?
23:42 Wigner’s final view on consciousness
25:12 Consciousness says “no” to superposition
26:38 Integrated Information Theory (IIT) explained
31:33 Understanding Φ and its relation to qualia
33:32 Can qualia be in superposition?
36:15 How McQueen’s ideas relate to Roger Penrose
38:44 Links between Penrose and Wigner
39:58 The tricky part of Penrose’s idea
42:37 Compatibility between Penrose and IIT
44:26 Quantum Integrated Information
48:34 Superposition formation as the moment of consciousness
51:47 The “basis problem”
54:57 How superposition might form in the brain
57:45 Testing quantum consciousness with isotopes
59:15 Federico Faggin’s theory of consciousness
01:01:59 The no-cloning theorem
01:04:45 McQueen’s challenge to Faggin

Copyright © 2025 Essentia Foundation. All rights on interview content reserved.

Written by Essentia Foundation

Comments

This post currently has 32 comments.

  1. @cordera9543

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    Of course consciousness is superposition, consciousness is superposition.
    It is the theory of everything: inside (quantum) and outside (relativity) at the same time = consciousness.
    It is reality.

  3. @Jakelefleur

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    23:00
    This is absurd. How can the majority of those believing a psi-ontic interpretation believe in many worlds? And how can he, someone has works professionally in both domains, really say that the only problem is understanding the Born rule? MWI postulates an infinity of worlds, mushrooming into existence every infinitesimal fraction of a second… None of which we have or could ever know.

    Why is this not obviously absurd to everyone? How can people believe this with a straight face?

  5. @LlonirTS

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    I'd argue that we do experience the phenomena of superposition every day – in those moments when we don't know whether to make choice A or choice B. Coke or Pepsi? Cheeseburger or Pizza?

  7. @bsspkr

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    I am surfing the wave of consciousness. Enjoying me, my awareness as a fluke side effect until the wave collapses, again. Waiting for the moment consciousness itself becomes aware and the universe implodes, again. I think somebody put something in my coffee, perhaps that somebody was another me.

  8. @snowbumspaz

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    Point it’s just the shape that squeeze the cones, gravity or measurement or whatever isn’t collapsing anything. It’s forcing the geometry to confess what it really is when nobody is looking. That’s damn that’s actually pretty makes the whole collapse thing look like origami instructions gone wrong and the geometry yeah maybe Penrose wasn’t pulling shapes out of his arse. Maybe that’s what a circle looks like after you folded it through a cone and asked it not to break. Want to try it with a triangle next see if it turns into a bottle.

  9. @digilux4017

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    CIITR extends IIT and GWT by adding what both omit — temporal thermodynamic coherence.
    Where Φ measures integration and workspace models describe distribution, Rᵍ defines rhythmic reach, and together they yield Cₛ — sustained structural comprehension.
    It’s not an alternative to IIT or GWT — it’s their structural completion.

  10. @Supernovasalimali

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    Consciousness is different from awareness, anyway who meditates experiences the differentiation. Consciousness is the observation of the mind which holds information for experiences which are ultimately nothing but interpretations of energy. Consciousness would have to be in superposition, and awareness would be the collapse into experience.

  12. @missh1774

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    1:04:10 unless the equipment is ready and captures the real deal. The long slow and gradual build up supra conscious bind to human, then a gradual descent and drop of a wave collapse away from the human.

  13. @Raptorel

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    I think the answer to this whole thing with consciousness and quantum mechanics is simply adopting the Many Worlds Interpretation in an Idealistic metaphysical framework. The mind of Nature simply evolves according to the Schrodinger equation applied to the wave function of the universe (which is our model of reality). In it, individual minds happen that interact with the rest of the mind and represent the outside of themselves "classically". How exactly do they do that? By getting entangled with the measured outcome and decohering.

    Me as an observer am still a quantum mechanical object that, if you were to look at it, would be an entangled bunch of "particles", from your perspective. When I measure a system in superposition, say an electron that could either be in position A and position B, both outcomes happen: there's a version of me that sees it in position A and a version of me that sees in position B. Since there is a single self of Nature that experiences all these "individual" minds, this is no issue at all – Nature simply experiences both of these perspectives, each in its own separated universe (these universes are perpendicular to each other in Hilbert space, so they don't interact).

    That's all there is to it. It's simple, it's elegant, it has no issues with what a "measurement" is, nothing like that. It's just Nature living all possible universes.

    PS. Each universe contributes differently to the final vector that is the wave function of the universe, depending on what we call the "probability" of that particular branch. Some contribute more than others. The final vector that is the wave function of the universe depends on the combined effects of all the branches.

  17. @sjahope

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    Sorry to point this out- neither quantum mechanics nor spacetime are fundamental, and we know this for a fact. Spacetime is doomed, local realism is done, reductionism is dead.

  19. @LightWillDo

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    His critique of Faggins work show his lack of depth . Where, in physics, does it give him any position to state you cannot have access to your own knowledge if YOU are the state ! This is amateurish on his part

  23. @ForestForTheTrees257

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    In my ignorant understanding of this, using quantum mechanics will not work because of local realism being false. It applies to the macro level. And it applies to the micro level right down to quantum objects. They are not there unless they are observed and therefore cannot have any causal power such as producing consciousness. Consciousness always has to come first even though I don't know what the final clear picture explanation of this is going to look like. It's the same thing like with people falling in love with panpsychism because it sounds kind of mystical and romantic that everything has a little bit of consciousness. Well, it still acknowledges matter exists when you're not looking at it, so it is incorrect.

  26. @BitboyDrew1777

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    Heres the thing… Much of this conversation was built around theorized fundamentals.. Localized Consciousness… Ide imagine the real spaghetti work comes with How Local interacts with Universal or multiple local states interacting.
    Thoughts?

  27. @WayneCarr

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    It's really sad for me to listen to these guys who obviously haven't done their homework in terms of the actual experienced of remote viewers and mystics. Remote viewers appear to actually experience consciousness in superposition. Of course this needs further research and clarification. It's a little bit like the blind man in the elephant because it's so hard for one or a small group of people too thoroughly study the whole spectrum of human experience that goes on now and has gone on in the past

  29. @elviscotena2046

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    We can’t understand reality unless we realise that ‘reality’ we are experiencing is ‘experienced’ via the ‘lens’ of our brain. Our brain is limited in speed of processing, capacity and cognitive architecture therefore we cannot possibly understand base reality. Physics’ aim to be objective about the nature of reality is a fiction. Reality is a psycho-physical construct. What we experience is different from base reality. Quantum effects are psycho-physical effects. That’s what causes the observer effect. 🥸

  30. @TailCutLoose

    November 2, 2025 at 6:20 pm

    I don't like many words interpretation because it seems so energy inefficient, heavy and wasteful. Like for sure dude i want every single of my action to generate yet another universe

Comments are closed.

Related
Dreamscape Vol 1: Featuring The Deepmind 12
Benn Jordan | April 26, 2026
Related
“This Isn’t Just AI. It’s ALIEN Intelligence” | Full-Length ...
Beeyond Ideas | April 26, 2026
Related
The Most Mysterious Squid (That We Know Of) | Lindsay Nikole
Lindsay Nikole | April 26, 2026

This area can contain widgets, menus, shortcodes and custom content. You can manage it from the Customizer, in the Second layer section.

 

 

 

Go to album
  • play_circle_filled

    92.9 : The Torch

  • play_circle_filled

    AGGRO
    'Til Deaf Do Us Part...

  • play_circle_filled

    SLACK!
    The Music That Made Gen-X

  • play_circle_filled

    KUDZU
    The Northwoods' Alt-Country & Americana

  • play_circle_filled

    BOOZHOO
    Indigenous Radio

  • play_circle_filled

    THE FLOW
    The Northwoods' Hip Hop and R&B

play_arrow skip_previous skip_next volume_down
playlist_play