Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation

September 1, 2023
Theoretical physics is one of science's most challenging yet exciting areas of research. How the universe began, how it ends, even how it exists confounds even the most brilliant physicists. However, when considering mysteries of the natural world, like quantum mechanics, black holes, dark matter, and dark energy, there is often one factor missing from most hypotheses, the human mind. Musser, an award-winning journalist and contributing editor to Scientific American, considers our perception of consciousness and its role in framing our collective understanding of matter, space, and time. His unique approach draws on neuroscience, philosophy, computer science, and AI. Musser covers brain function and the groundbreaking research conducted by Nobel laureate Roger Penrose, who in The Emperor's New Mind (1989) and Shadows of the Mind (1994) linked quantum mechanics to a new physics of consciousness. Throughout, Musser references Carlo Rovelli's (The Order of Time, 2017) ideas that theories of quantum mechanics, gravity, and other forces are relational and "have no properties in isolation, but acquire them only at their point of contact with other things."

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Starred review from September 11, 2023
“Explaining our inner experience might require new physics,” according to this electrifying report. Science writer Musser (Spooky Action at a Distance) surveys how physicists, who since René Descartes have largely studied matter as distinct from the mind, are now attempting to explain the vagaries of subjective experience and consciousness. Quantum theory, he notes, has forced physicists to consider the human mind because the presence of “sentient observers” affects the location of quantum particles, which remain in an indefinite state “not sitting anywhere in particular” until observed. Musser explores the fascinating ways in which scientists are studying the physics of the mind, including theoretical quantum “meta-experiments” that consider situations in which “observers observe other observers.” Other researchers are building artificial neural networks (digital “webs of basic computing units”) to better understand how neurons, which function as biological computing units, contribute to cognitive function and consciousness. Musser has a talent for distilling complex science into accessible language, as when he explains that Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli’s theories about gravity imply that “things have no properties in isolation but acquire them only at their point of contact with other things,” raising provocative questions about the nature of objective reality. Lucid and endlessly intriguing, this will expand readers’ minds.

September 15, 2023
Penetrating account of the connections among consciousness and artificial intelligence, cosmology, and quantum mechanics. Musser, a contributing editor for Scientific American and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory and Spooky Action at a Distance, obviously has no fear of difficult subjects. This book should not serve as an introduction to human consciousness, but readers who pay attention will learn a great deal. The author begins by pointing out that "we are composed of matter, and we are conscious." Therefore, he continues, "it must be possible to recognize these two facts." Scientists specialize in taking things that seem different, such as matter and energy or electricity and magnetism, and showing that "they are essentially the same. Can they do that for matter and mind?" Not yet, notes the author, but they're making progress, largely by paying close attention to neuroscience, which explores brain function, and computer science, which hit the jackpot last year when researchers demonstrated spectacular AI programs (ChatGPT and DALL-E) that are so creative and communicate so convincingly that experts have concluded only that they are "probably" not conscious. Encountering this conclusion less than halfway through the book, readers may look forward to more insights, and Musser does not disappoint. The difficulty is that consciousness is still an extremely complex problem. A skilled reporter, the author chronicles his travels around the world interviewing experts in many fields (Carlo Rovelli appears throughout the text), showing us how cosmologists muse about the universe; physicists explore information theory and neural networks; neuroscientists wonder how a physical brain produces a mind; and philosophers explore emergence, free will, and causality. Quantum effects are significant, but, like consciousness, no one completely understands them beyond theory. Many consider it possible, in both cases, that we never will. Deep thoughts about deep issues--but not for the faint of heart.

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