From: Patrick Wilken (patrickw@cs.monash.edu.au)
Date: Mon Nov 23 1998 - 04:37:46 MST
At 5:08 PM 23-11-98, John Clark wrote:
>
> Nobody knows. Somebody suggested that random quantum fluctuations would
> be enough to make them instantly diverge but if things were really that
> delicate nobody would have a stable personality, but they do. Besides
> the human brain is a hot noisy place, I don't see how quantum effects
> could play much of a part in its operation. I don't know how long they
> would stay in parallel, I would guess a few minutes, perhaps a few
> hours.
The brain is chaotic, as such small fluctuations in initial conditions will
rapidly lead to divergent results. So even if the two brains are initially
identical and in identical environments QM will lead to divergence over
time.
Note: I am not suggesting weird QM affects a la Hameroff and Penrose, but
more mundane affects of QM on the exact rate of chemical and
electrophysical reactions in the brain.
best, patrick
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Wilken http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~patrickw/
Editor: PSYCHE: An International Journal of Research on Consciousness
Secretary: The Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/ http://www.phil.vt.edu/ASSC/
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