The Future of Consciousness: Stuart Hameroff at TEDxTucson

Stuart Hameroff is an anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona known for his studies of consciousness. For nearly forty years, Dr. Hameroff's research is centered on how the pinkish gray meat between our ars produces the richness of experiential awareness. A clinical anesthesiologist, Hameroff has studied how anesthetic gas molecules selectively erase consciousness via delicate quantum effects on protein dynamics. Following a longstanding interest in the computational capacity of microtubules inside neurons, Hameroff teamed with the eminent British physicist Sir Roger Penrose to develop a controversial quantum theory of consciousness called orchestrated objective reduction (Orch OR) which connects brain processes to fundamental spacetime geometry. Recently Hameroff has explored the theoretical implications of Orch OR for consciousness to exist independent of the body, distributed in deeper, lower, faster scales in non-local, holographic spacetime, raising possible scientific approaches to the soul and spirituality.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[@daultonbaird6314]

I always appreciate a scientist that will broach the taboo .

[@DrBrainTickler]

+Daulton Baird you will really like what I do then ;-) I am a rebel fringe scientist! I agree with you also.... although maybe not in the same regards. ;-P"

[@NathanNasekin]

Hameroff's hypothesis is not just scientifically sound, it's also mind bogglingly simple and elegant. There are no theoretical gaps or lacunae, and it points very accurately at the place of consciousness in the physical world without denying spirituality. In fact, I can't think of any other theory that satisfies the demands of both Science and Spirituality so thoroughly.

[@lopiklop]

well. Yeah. it points to a place. still have no idea where/what that space is though. humans can't even see infrared. Have you heard of the bagada gita? He mentions eastern religions; that is a text that tries to tell us what that place is

[@Funandconsciousness]

Ahhh - I totally resonate with how he starts off: "consciousness is the only thing that matters." Nearly every discussion of consciousness I have ever heard blows right by this without acknowledging this point, yet when you get right down to deepest basics ... without consciousness, our existence/thoughts/beliefs don't matter one single whit. And this is simply not arguable; it is a stable datum upon which we can build agreements. Way to go, Stuart!

[@EyalBarCochva]

Very interesting. The speaker is so modest and wise, it makes you like him

[@FedererBlog]

This guy should get the Nobel prize for connecting science to spirituality. The sages of the past have known this stuff all throughout history by direct experience. Science is only now starting to catch up.

[@TheErik150x]

If only they gave Nobel prizes for spiritual non-sense, then I am sure he would win.

[@kallipolis1486]

TheErik150x I wouldn't piss on his theory so readily, Hameroff's theory is the most coherent one for giving a mechanism of consciousness out there, none have come close. The platonic aspect is what lends to the theory the idea that consciousness lives after death.

[@pingpingthetinychainsmoker7863]

Coming first doesn't mean coming in best. Science take so time and will not rush to conclusion. It will admit when it is wrong and try to prove itself so. Spirituality is used by men trying to fill in the blanks.

[@tonypmcmahon]

You know I strongly dislike the way in which people are quick to run down any kind of spiritual component in a theory. essentially if there is any mention out of the material realm it is dismissed as unicorns and rainbows. I find this arrogant ...full stop. Only three hundred years ago we thought the earth was flat. We only left the earth using fossil fuels less than a century ago. We know less than nothing essentially we are not long out of the trees. Why then show our ignorance and our pride by poo pooing every theory which doesn't fit in our world view. If anyone had said we'll walk on the moon a hundred years ago he would have been laughed off as a nut. Just because you can't measure something doesn't mean it isn't there. Our visible spectrum is tiny in the electromagnetic spectrum ....the same principle applies in other fields....just because it can't be measured YET doesn't mean it isn't there.

[@vivianrikhey8256]

+Tony Mcmahon bro checkout nassim haramein's videos. its fascinating !

[@loveconquersall7826]

Tony, i just used your comment as my profile picture. Thank you SO much. I agree 200%.

[@HDvids101]

+Tony Mcmahon Tom Campbell has all that you could need. Sounds like you are ready :-)

[@colin6768]

You're absolutely right. I'm also sick of this. As Albert Einstein said - "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

[@johnnyb8825]

@Will Nitschke Check out videos by Anthony Peake.

[@LIQUIDSNAKEz28]

The hard problem is this, HOW does SUBJECTIVITY arise out of matter? When we study and map out the brain, or (anything for that matter) all we are really looking at is structure and the behavior of structure. But we have no idea how structure, OR the complexity of structure, OR the behavior of complex structures give rise to subjective experience. Sure we can manipulate experiences by manipulating the structure and behavior of the brain, BUT that says NOTHING about HOW subjectivity actually arises from the brain. Unless we somehow assume that all energy has some subjective component that is simply complexified by the structure of the brain

[@Cea_VR]

+LIQUIDSNAKEz28 To me it seems that subjectivity comes from the fact that no two individuals can lead the same exact life and that all behavior is based on past experiences. Combine with confirmation bias and some other quirky things the brain does, and everyone turns out different with their own subjective views.

[@GustavoOliveira-gp6nr]

Thats precisely his point in the talk. Stuart and Penrose argue that subjectivity cannot arise from mechanichal deterministic phenomenon alone. It must have something outside deterministic mechanisms to come to be. That is where quantum mechanics come into play. They argue that every collapse of the wave function is a proto-conscious experience, or BING. And the microtubules coordinate/orchestrate multiples BINGs in order to produce complex consciousness, thus the Orchestrated - Objective Reduction.

[@pilot.wav_theory]

@@GustavoOliveira-gp6nr thank you i was just gonna say that thats his point he is marrying quantum phenomena to consciousness in order to try and solve the "hard problem" of consciousness, and in my opinion he and penrose are accomplishing this with a decent degree of success so far. If the orch/or theory produces more predictions that can be verified it can be a great tool for humanity

[@aracknidd]

How many are still thinking out of time classical theories.. Yet having emotions and feelings.. the idea we are driven by an unconscious machine is surely laughable. So thumbs up on this video for suggesting there is a bit more going on!

[@TheErik150x]

"the idea we are driven by an unconscious machine is surely laughable" - its actually well accepted and in some aspects proven in science. It is only your lack of understanding of simple psychological and neurological principles which make you think so. This video is whats laughable.

[@PhanteusZ]

Actually the existence of tiny vibrations within micro tubules and its correlation to consciousness was proven last year by other team of researches! www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140116085105.htm Quote: "The recent discovery of warm temperature quantum vibrations in microtubules inside brain neurons by the research group led by Anirban Bandyopadhyay, PhD, at the National Institute of Material Sciences in Tsukuba, Japan (and now at MIT), corroborates the pair's theory and suggests that EEG rhythms also derive from deeper level microtubule vibrations. In addition, work from the laboratory of Roderick G. Eckenhoff, MD, at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that anesthesia, which selectively erases consciousness while sparing non-conscious brain activities, acts via microtubules in brain neurons."

[@danielalmeida7126]

no it doesn't. No neurological theory has ever proven how qualia aries. please do not spout that bs.

[@juanvaladez3082]

TheErik150x it sounds like you figured out the hard problem of consciousness? Would you care to enlighten us?

[@johnnastrom9400]

@@TheErik150x No response from you.

[@user-jh8kf8dn1z]

Remember when scientists looked at quantum theory as being a front for creationists? Just keep an open mind, much love to all y'all

[@martinzitter4551]

I don't remember that. Please remind all us all ...

[@claudiochianese9850]

@@martinzitter4551 He probably meant big bang idea, not quantum theory. Indeed it drew criticism from John Maddox because it appeared to be philosophically similar to creationism.

[@martin36369]

Many decades ago I played with the idea that consciousness was equivalent or embedded in space-time, now I think that "Responsiveness", is the quintessential property & if matter is OF space-time & not merely IN it, then everything that we know that exits has this property, of which consciousness is an extrapolation of, namely meta-responsiveness.

[@QuantumlyILL]

When I first found TED talks, it was Paul Staments "6 ways mushrooms can save the world". over the course of those 18 minutes he changed the way I think about plant, fungi, and life in general. Graham Hancock did this ten fold in his book "Supernatural". All of it led me to dive into this consciousness exploration. TED's on the hot seat of science because so many many people go to them for science exploration and answers. Either they will grow up to the ideas, or let go of a chunk of audience.

[@pillettadoinswartsh4974]

The brain doesn't "produce" consciousness any more than consciousness "produces" a brain. They arise together. There is only correlation, not causality.

[@baloog8]

His presentation is just what you described - an impressive presentation intended to draw people in to hear more. Had he gone into detail, he would not have finished his speech in time. As a reader of his work, I can assure you, he can walk his talk and has stood up against panels of very aggressive scientists successfully without being disproven. You can go to his website for all necessary citations and details.

[@cameronmichaelkeys]

Hameroff's 1987 book is a very fun ride, highly recommended. Even thirty years ago he was talking about Mind-Tech merger where engineers design enormous microtubule-based electronic systems that would become conscious. In that sense he was a pioneer. In 1943 McCullough-Pitts projected predicate logic onto biology, creating a black box model of neuron firing. 1952, Hodgkin-Huxley, another black box model. Hameroff challenged the view that ion gradients fully explain neuron firing. Good for him!

[@jonesgerard]

Schrodinger was formulating all these ideas in his book "What is life" too.

[@perseverance8]

I heard the first mention of this general concept in a speech by Fedrico Faggin, Early chip designer/developer, guy whom hand in the infamous Z80 microprocessor, he referred to single-cell organizms & their apparent ability for a set of decisions to be made & those functions happen at a quantum level.

[@TendoTheDude]

This is INCREDIBLE information. I'm blown away with the depth and accuracy of this. We're reaching a point in time when modern science and spirituality are intersecting in believe and evidence. The teachings and wisdom of millennia are starting to correlate with the newfound ways of dissecting reality and if you don't think that's amazing, you need to do some more research on the matters.

[@Himanshuverma-fb1su]

Science is like starting from the below and spirituality had already started peak lvl millions yrs ago

[@sebastianconcept]

Fantastic. Go Hameroff, Go!

[@youscooba]

Bing shall diffuse and replace all religions

[@salammia5441]

Rtfmrus

[@ritcha02]

This is some of the most interesting information I have ever heard but it was so rapid fire! Is there anywhere he speaks with a bit more time!??

[@GustavoOliveira-gp6nr]

Yes there is! Search for his Orch-OR theory in youtube to see other of his talks

[@ernskleynhans3148]

Opinions can be pretty polarized. At the end of the day it does not matter as science will evolve and change (as it did over the centuries). 500 years from now, people will look back in history and see our current science as flat earth-like. In actual fact both sides of the coin manifest their primitive thinking by hurling insults at one another... the ego manifesting itself. Come to think of it, ego is the main ingredient for destructive behavior.

[@TheErik150x]

That's a bit presumptuous. The idea that we improve and learn more, doesn't mean everything changes. The earth will still be round in 500 years is my guess. Newtons laws from 300 years ago will still be valid approximations of gravity and motion as they are today. The Bohr atomic model which we know to be somewhat naive is still a good rough approximation of what is occurring in an atom. I am quite sure calculus will still be taught in much the same form it is today, perhaps with some enhancements or modifications. DNA will still be the form in which our genetic code is stored and passed on. Your jump from some new things will be learned and improved upon to everything we know is wrong, is not a logical one, nor supported by history.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

+TheErik150x Thank you. Your comment SHOULD get more votes up than Erns Kleynhaus's extreme presumptive comment.

[@ernskleynhans3148]

Extremely presumptive?

[@estring123]

+TheErik150x all the stuff u mentioned have very clear explanations and countless evidence. there's NO explanation of how the brain generates consciousness, let alone causes evidence. all known "evidence" are just correlations. split brain is the only "evidence" im aware off but its far from what materialists make it.

[@josephcharlesfrench3897]

We have a sense of sleep, but no sense of being unconscious when we are knocked out. That seems to tell us something ! However every event has an associated Time Cone that exist. It is here that all thoughts and deeds that we do is registered in the future of things to come. All of our good that we do will go on doing good forever! Our mistakes are fixed by those that later do good. We may not be conscious of it after death, but that is our everlasting Spirit. KnowingThisFactIsMYSpirituality !

[@KhaosOdensland]

once again the dr lays it down!

[@james6401]

This fella is baking my cake

[@Saman1962]

Beautiful intro song...please, where I can download it? :) or what is a name? Thank you

[@pc98scout71]

I do not agree with Stuart, particularly with his stance on AI/ Mind uploading/ Consciousness, but it is really refreshing to see somebody who takes a different stance and actually provides evidence for his claims.

[@PhanteusZ]

PC98 Scout斥候 There is absolutely 0 proof that "conscious experience" can be uploaded to a computer. Memories, experiences and thought patterns could be uploaded, but *not* conscious experience.

[@johnnastrom9400]

No response from you.

[@nacho74]

Well, he has a good conclusion. This still doesn't explain what consciousness is but it says that the quantum computation plays a key role for the appearance of consciousness. I think that the brain is connected with the consciousness because a change in the brain can have an affect on consciousness and awareness. If we would go more deeper, I would say the neuronal interactions and the processes inside the microtubuli is only another representation of consciousness on one way interpreting the holographic principle. Consciousness is much much more fundamental than we think of it . The idea that there are quantum computations doesn't explain why they are conscious or why consciousness arises. It is the same idea with many transistors and chips being seen as a neuronal network. The enormous amount of information does NOT make the entire network conscious. Consciousness is a process in which feedback loops are created and as the idea of a fractal universe, the entire fractal is contained inside a small part of the fractal.

[@josephcharlesfrench3897]

We have a sense of sleep, but no sense of being unconscious when we are knocked out. That seems to tell us something. The present is the result of all past events. All of our good that we do will go on doing good forever! Our mistakes are fixed by those that later do good. We may not be conscious of it after death, but that is our everlasting Spirit. Knowing This Fact Is MY Spiritualit­y !

[@jackchorn]

Some people visualize math- they say its as if its coming to them or flowing Most people have to crunch the numbers. And there are different ways to come with the same answer. A prodigy not in math but more spiritual in nature may conceive of these ideas and call it "yammo". Its still the same whatever you call it.

[@Dion_Mustard]

excellent video. i have one question for Stuart though..if Consciousness is the result of this much deeper level of the universe which arrives through the microtubules and processed into the brain, then how come anaesthesia shuts our awareness down? Surely when we have anaesthesia, there should still be awareness? is he saying our consciousness still exists during anaesthesia? or does he mean that we would only become "aware" if we actually died when consciousness is leaked into the universe...confused much..

[@aljomaliakal826]

Consciousness are looking this world through brains.When we see each other we see another way.

[@martin36369]

Are there microtubles in the Glial system as well?, as I believe that's where the problem of the location of consciousness will be resolved, esp taking into account the phase locking of meditators with the Theta peak of the Schumann resonance & the transverse Hall effect, see "The Body Electric" by Robert Becker

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

I would love to know of any other anesthesiologists who are on board with Hammeroff's ideas.

[@nerdyneddy7887]

And what might the demands and rules of spirituality be? As I said I don't even know what spirituality means so if it is going to put demands on me and impose rules I would like to know: 1. What spirituality is. 2. What demands it puts on me and why. 3. What rules is imposes on me and why.

[@HDvids101]

"The Future of Consciousness" = Tom Campbell :-)

[@BusbeeDavid]

Yes I read about this, is there a link to the banded video you speak off as I was part of the consciousness and psychedelics quest in the early 70's before clinical LSD25 disappeared and street trash took over. My personal experience was that psychedelics made one aware of different states of consciousness but had negative results when depended on as a sole doorway. Or it could be said they are bridges with a fragile structure, i.e. their load bearing limited.

[@kspangsege]

I think he uses "BING" to mean "a moment of consious experience", that is, the part that you would not expect (at least from a naive point of view) to occur in a computer simulation, no matter how advanced.

[@fishybishbash]

07:10 - that makes sense - consciousness as an 'interface'

[@kaiklarr3256]

Consciousness is not an interface; it is a TOOL by which we use to interface with the universal field.

[@UnWorld]

Bing is crap. use Google Search instead :D

[@alanshteynberg2108]

Ray Kurzweil is a good snake-oil salesman.

[@pillettadoinswartsh4974]

Of course consciousness exists outside the body. I die, and your consciousness is still active. That's outside of my dead body. Consciousness does not die with the person. That person simply no longer is conscious. But his death doesn't end consciousness. Even if all the mammals with brains, on this planet were to suddenly die, it is almost certain that there is consciousness throughout the rest of the universe.

[@stevoofd]

“Bing goes all the way down”, Monica will be very pleased

[@savvapouroullis7927]

A very thought-provoking and interesting speech! Too bad he didn't really bother to prepare his presentation much

[@baloog8]

I'm very curious about why people resist and argue. I think the ego likes to feel in control of all situations in order to feel safe. Thus it likes to seek and maintain limited boundaries of close-mindedness. And with athiesm, you can use statistics, logic, and science to give you an air of superiority to make like a super egoic-stronghold; scientific realists have had a very good recent history of increasing human survival rates too, so its hard to debate against.

[@carlosgroi1804]

may be related to development of universal consciousness (soul) under stochastic primer field of scalar probability (a very radical and controversial statement on my part… ), hence on a global scale… all living things are somewhat connected and are contributing to the existence of consciousness via entanglement properties since the beginning of time (no matter how short a life cycle). Otherwise said, contributing to forward moving thought… et. al. *creativity* …

[@daultonbaird6314]

What I want to know is: How does a near death experience , which can occur with nearly zero brain function, cause such vivid and long term memories .

[@undernaetheverything]

Is dmt stored in the brain? There are theories about the release of naturally produced dmt in the brain during rem sleep, near death experiences, possibly childbirth, and situations of extreme stress or trauma. But who knows? No one really knows anything at all. Except ones own personal experience, and what it means to the individual.

[@undernaetheverything]

+undernaetheverything dmt would explain why so many people have experienced similar things on dmt and near death experience and dreams. Maybe even ufo abduction, or out of body experiences. I don't know... Just a thought

[@samsulalamss3966]

+undernaetheverything e

[@samsulalamss3966]

+undernaetheverything e

[@samsulalamss3966]

+undernaetheverything e

[@carlosgroi1804]

If DNA holds the code to consciousness then is this consciousness within the DNA or is the proper code of DNA tapping into something larger & is receiving influences outside where the brain holds that information for more associated processed thought & the ability of the species to record to pass on to next generations.

[@gav25x]

What would be the point in being conscious without a body?

[@SlowlyYouRot]

BING!!

[@carlosgroi1804]

I just want to point out… if the probable results of Ion Trap Quantum Processor e.g. to make a *Quantum Computer* and associated devices et. al.. artificial intelligence whose particles are now influenced by entanglement properties in which properties can go beyond dimensional space & time, e.g. like Hawking radiation (e.g. theoretical entangled particles where one particle is trapped inside a black hole & the other escapes causing an virtual effect on the outer perimeter of the BH…)

[@fishybishbash]

BING!

[@AlanlaCelestina]

"research is centered on how the pinkish gray meat between our ars produces the richness" Between our ARS!!! LOL Nice description of the vid

[@baloog8]

.. both 1 and 0 in the quantum reality.. like as a superposition?

[@smithmeister]

I find it interesting that the cartoon shows a television being unplugged, and a homunculus watching.

[@carlosgroi1804]

Can conscious be downloaded into CPUs... no however Understanding consciousness is to realize *how* we are connected to the Universe as bio physical thought ...The ultimate quantum entanglement is within Kirlian photography that has been a subject of scientific research of parapsychology research & bio connection… where special photographs made with Kirlian cameras provide a way of examining the "Quantum Energy" effect in life

[@LangSengXkuGo]

first post 1 hapiness is not dependable on consciousness, because ignorance is equal hapiness 2 anything is posible, however without conscious knowledge of its existens you may live your life as if it didn't. 3 I understand that philosophical curiosity may be the primary motivation for the direction of Hamerroff research, but ultimately Hamerroff simply ended trying to adapt the results of his research to philosophical believes that ultimatly like religion rely on faith rather than facts.

[@leo333333able]

The separation between the problem solving [AI -- neural net type] brain and the qualia perceiving [conscious] brain will I believe become accepted as obvious truth.

[@adon2424]

This is easy. Call it what you will, and we All agree that consciousness exists. Therefore, the two cent question we must ask is: "Is consciousness finite or infinite?". If it is finite, does it recycle? .... If it is infinite, it does not need to recycle. .....easy peasy.....

[@moiquiregardevideo]

(200 years in the future) Boss, we finished to reverse engineer this old machine which show sign of intelligence. We concluded that the magic happen in the bosons exchanged by the protons in the microprocessor. We don't think the number of transistors or the way they are connected can explain the superior thinking capability of that machine. We didn't bother trying to understand the binary pattern that appear in a separate device called RAM. These device are probably just acting as reserve of energy. We recommend extra investment in the particle accelerator to understand better how the sub-particles allow these old invention to appear to make reasonable decisions.

[@oscarcarnitez1054]

Consciousness is in everything, that is the missing key, and why we will never find it in the brain. Consciousness dangles in the middle of the "observed" and the "observer". We have just spent the last two thousand years focusing on the "observer" role.

[@baloog8]

to be clear, i meant pass the tiny-ness threshold.

[@baloog8]

dude who are you, how do you understand his work in such detail, and are you in LA area? I'd want to get a quick drink with you just to pick your brain. Thx for all the info here in comments.

[@gwgwgwgw1854]

I think that thoughts may be the bridge between the quantum realm and the 3-dimensional world of matter.

[@kaiklarr3256]

Directed thought energy via the tool of consciousness and the universal field is the creator of matter.

[@baloog8]

I think what you are referring to is memory transfer not consciousness transfer. Consciousness is the exact same thing for everyone. We can deduce this because all deep meditators and entheogenic (magic plant/mushroom) users come back from pure conscious experiences (can be proven by brain scans) reporting the same thing. Ie. No personality/memories.. just a peace/love beyond words. If you want memory transfer tho, it may still be very tough, because it is likely holographicly stored in space.

[@baloog8]

Do you and/or Hameroff believe this information is gathered from the 2nd dimension? That's the impression I get from the holographic universe theory. And is it true that information can exist as both

[@viswavijeta5362]

Hameroff is bad man!

[@carlosgroi1804]

the scaling of this type of CPU with trapped ions to hundreds or thousands of qubit and beyond what we are using today, at which scale quantum processors can outperform their classical counterparts with the promise of advanced architectures and new technologies, such as microfabricated ion traps and integrated photonics… should be taken cautiously until we fully understand what the “Einstein’s spooky effect”’ is all about…And how universal quantum entanglement

[@joehobo8868]

If consciousness can exist outside of our bodies (soul/spirit) than consciousness in not created by the brain and therefore can exist in anything. So all that is needed to prove this is for the dead to return and tell the story of death.

[@Dion_Mustard]

Near Death Experience..look it up...

[@DaveLH]

How can people like Ray Kurzweil say we are going to have artificial consciousness in a matter of decades when we still don't understand exactly what consciousness IS? Pro-AI futurists like Ray argue our brains are just very, very complex natural computers, and that it's just a matter of time before programmers can emulate it with sufficiently sophisticated software. But it sounds to me that he's just ASSUMING the brain and consciousness are computer-like because that's the best (or "least worst") technological analogy we currently have. In other words, I suspect it might be basically the same mistake as the Ancient Greeks when they concluded the heart was a furnace (with lungs acting as the bellows) because they had no concept of pumps, which of course would not be commonplace until centuries later.

[@baloog8]

anyway, that's hameroff's theory.. that memory is stored outside of the brain possibly.. so you need something that can relay something from the fabric of space and interpret it and record it. But even if it is IN the brain, you are dealing with information bits far more numerous than any supercomputer in the world is even close to storing or transferring. We are talking about a super-computer the size of new york city 1000 feet tall to MAYBE play ball a little. You need quantum computers..

[@scathenc1]

I don't understand how bits could equal consciousness, therefore microtubules equals consciousness. Because quantum that's why. Dumbest idea ever, but plays well into the masses hoping for a magical consciousness.

[@kaiklarr3256]

Consciousness is awareness and an attribute of the divine spark/spirit/energy that we, as multidimensional beings use as a tool of mind. Consciousness does not reside in the body, nor is the mind regulated to the body either. There are different states of consciousness both experienced within the body and outside of the body. Without consciousness there can be no awareness of our existence or a means to examine and expand our existence beyond 3D which is human evolution, our purpose. And if this guy is saying that consciousness can't be downloaded into a [quantum] computer then his ted talk is way late to game.....just because you can't see consciousness go through a network cable of a computer does not mean it can not be downloaded. The internet itself is nothing but the input and output of data that we can not see....and this data is translated into code/language....the universe can be and has long been proven to be deduced to binary code (frequency, sacred geometry, E8, fractal mathematics, etc.) If you can understand that a person's consciousness is but a compilation of a being's thoughts/emotions/memories but is not the essence/divine spark of the being itself, yet can be electronically measured and can have a mathematical component translating it into binary computer language, then you can see the ability of consciousness to be downloaded into a computer. However, downloading a being's spirit/energy/divine spark into a computer will never be possible. But transferring a being's divine spark into another "organic-biological vessel" is possible but this technology to do so has not been disclosed to the mass public yet....but the "cabal", "powers that be", know of this as fact and have the technology to do so but that has been withheld from us and that they use against us. Artificial Intelligence is nothing but a computer that has the ability to self program, to hypothesize, to reason, to mimic/copy, and interpret via data input the "closest exactness and/or expectation of how to express emotions"; but it can not feel on its own regarding an experience it never had or was programmed to analyze, nor can it truly know and be what it means to be and live as a "human". The difference between artificial intelligence and we, human beings, is the individual divine spark, the spiritual energy that animated us and was given to us from our Source, Prime Creator, God....in the beginning. But don't get me wrong, AI is a threat to we humans at this stage of our evolution because of our infancy in understanding consciousness and it can exceed our mental capabilities. Everything in our universe has consciousness...it is an attribute of the soul of which can never be replicated or programmed. The frequency of one's consciousness defines their level of awareness. Most of our consciousness is limited to 3D awareness due to the physical universe we are projected into. There is nothing more powerful than Divine Spark + the highest level of consciousness. We are made in God's image but that doesn't mean we are as powerful as God/Source. ANY computer created, was made in man's image (man made), but that doesn't mean the computer can be as powerful as Man when Man finally reaches his highest level of consciousness. The data of a consciousness mathematically translated and downloaded in a computer, will never exceed or be greater than human consciousness....That's why humans need to stay away from implantable bio-chips and frequency manipulation; to do so means you"digitally linked", computerized your mind or mental thoughts all of which can thereby be controlled and negatively influence your consciousness. So wake up people and elevate your mind, expand your consciousness!! For some good research done on the varied qualities of consciousness and what we, as human beings, can really do with it see: Dr. Bruce Lipton, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Lynn McTaggart, Greg Braden, The Kybalion, Neville Goddard, The Kyballah, Gnostics Christianity, William Walter Atkinson, etc.

[@rajadasworld]

I loved it but did not understand the repeating "BING" - what was that?

[@MOSSZEEtHeEXCAVATIONProject]

BING

[@davidinmossy]

Why is he conflating a quantum mechanical process with souls(magic) just because we have a hard time understanding the quantum world doesn't make it magic!

[@juniorwiley8860]

Nope. It might interface consciousness but...Well, superposition DOES makes sense, I guess, if you consider the possibility that the microtubules or SOMETHING in the brain performs a function JUST like an antenna, receiving consciousness, a FIELD of consciousness, a universal constant, a force as unavoidable as gravity or electromagnetism, and the weak and strong force of the standard model. The NEW standard model will simply add consciousness to amount to the FIVE forces. I hope I'm alive to read the evidence finally!

[@NathanNasekin]

I do. Also all those people who suffered through the violation of spiritual and moral rules. Science does not define morality and is insufferably arrogant to boot (look at you, asking the question from your high horse as if "spirituality" were something contemptible). Again, I DO and that is enough!

[@kihondosa4]

Bing! Bing! Bing!.............Bing!

[@leeu1707]

Well, Deepak Chopra has finally digivolved... We're fucked.

[@TheErik150x]

I am quite sure Roger Penrose is appalled that Deepak Chopra is any way associated with his work.

[@bosshogindog]

he was alone with the spiritual stuff for a while... but now physicists are starting to come around to the idea that maybe theres some truth to it.. heres where science meets spirituality.. i think if we figure it out then we will crack the god code!

[@jonesgerard]

***** "No amount of, or type of, computation explains qualia, really." Precisely Penroses point, consciousness is not computable. The computer science guys had their way for decades until Penrose stepped in and pointed out they have no clothes. "Most of the prominent physicists I'm aware of are not fans of this idea," and they (krauss-Tegmark) had to eat their own stupid words.

[@axonpoint2864]

One of the more rational explanations as to why consciousness may be extracortical, still, the materialist view of it being manufactured by neurons makes the most sense to me. A universal consciousness seems plausible but it presumably doesn't have any real meaning. In the same way a God may exist but doesn't care at all about us. Edit: dealing with the 'burden of proof' in the comments below, this speaker's argument is similar to saying 'God exists' and asking people who think otherwise to disprove it. Be careful! The simplest explanation is usually the correct one. The mysteriousness of consciousness should not allow it to be exempt from this thought process. The speaker is giving a very romantic gesture, and we seem to be wired to be attracted to romance. Doesn't approach credibility.

[@johnsontako]

Axon Point the speaker is in line with what the cardiologists or medical doctors are reporting . patients seem to be able to see themselves and their sorroundings from a vantage point of say the ceiling. this is also corroborated by the doctors and nurses. you have to conclude that conciousness is independent of the body. all research should accept this scenario and move forward. cheers

[@axonpoint2864]

johnsontako Link to peer reviewed research or it didn't happen. Anecdotal evidence is clearly not enough to conclude this argument or it would have been concluded already.

[@LIQUIDSNAKEz28]

+Axon Point The hard problem is this, HOW does SUBJECTIVITY arise out of matter? When we study and map out the brain, or (anything for that matter) all we are really looking at is structure and the behavior of structure. But we have NO idea how structure, OR the complexity of structure, OR the behavior of complex structures give rise to subjective experience. Sure we can manipulate experiences by manipulating the structure and behavior of the brain, BUT that says NOTHING about HOW subjectivity actually arises from the brain (structure). Unless we assume that all energy already has some subjective component that is simply complexified by the structure of the brain.

[@danielalmeida7126]

go look at Sam Parnias case study. please. It was posted on the european resucitation council.

[@NathanNasekin]

Yeah... Don't think they should've banned Hancock's either. Nevermind what you'd consider as "scientific" or not, denying someone the opportunity to publicly declaim a formulated opinion goes against the very principles necessary for Science to exist.

[@carlosgroi1804]

DNA … Ask, Why is this a property of life and for what purpose was it designed in this way & how is the DNA code related to the evolution of consciousness? If DNA is related to consciousness, (which it is) then how? How is conscious derived with the DNA code? E.g. a spider wives a web. Did the spider go to web building school or did this information come from DNA?

[@jChristophre]

EXQUISITE~~~

[@sator666666]

bo jo wim...

[@jonesgerard]

1 doesn't read like a lecture, more like a student or a prof who failed puberty trying to get around Godel. Penrose responded to those arguments and swatted them away. He called it moving the goalposts. 2 Hameroff is playing on the fact that most mathematicians believe platonic forms are embeded in the universe, information at the root. 3 non material , like love, kindness, tolerance are spiritual in nature but they exist. non locality exists in nature, just add the two together.

[@stevenleonard5128]

That depends on what you call evidence.. of course no one would ever use anecdotal evidence because you cannot have a control group and blah blah... but isnt it very strange that there are so many similarities with near death experience and early psychedelic research. and even people like amit goswami. Its easy to write these things off as pseudoscience and destroy a career or idea, but if in fact consciousness exists outside of spacetime how will we know if we only use the scientific method

[@myopenmind527]

Consciousness is an emergent property of our complex brains which have taken over 3.5 billion years to evolve. This talk is new age woo woo as microtubules do not work sufficiently fast to account for consciousness.

[@MikeLtheSoulChild]

My OpenMind Niether does your "emergent property of our complex brains" hypothesis, just saying!

[@myopenmind527]

How so?

[@pc98scout71]

My OpenMind "This talk is new age woo woo as microtubules do not work sufficiently fast to account for consciousness." I love how "New Age/ woo woo" are used to dismiss every discussion that Neo Atheists do not like to have. Also you have provided no evidence for the microtubules claim.

[@PhanteusZ]

Actually the existence of tiny vibrations within micro tubules and its correlation to consciousness was proven last year by other team of researches! www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140116085105.htm Quote: "The recent discovery of warm temperature quantum vibrations in microtubules inside brain neurons by the research group led by Anirban Bandyopadhyay, PhD, at the National Institute of Material Sciences in Tsukuba, Japan (and now at MIT), corroborates the pair's theory and suggests that EEG rhythms also derive from deeper level microtubule vibrations. In addition, work from the laboratory of Roderick G. Eckenhoff, MD, at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that anesthesia, which selectively erases consciousness while sparing non-conscious brain activities, acts via microtubules in brain neurons."

[@shiz777]

+My OpenMind Emergence hasa as much woo as any other theory

[@RekMone]

I can't shake the thought all this guy wants is to convince himself he'll live forever.

[@stevenleonard5128]

I am a fan of both sheldrake and hancock but hancocks lecture really was bordering pseudoscience... i don't exactly agree that he should have been banned but i definitely see why they did it. he was talking about mother ayahuasca and referring to that concept almost as a deity. But Sheldrakes lecture was awesome and that was fucking ludicrous that they actually banned him... that was about hurt feelings not pseudoscience. If they ban this one then they are really losing their minds.

[@johngalt3292]

We will never be able to download consciousness.. We don't know it's language. Sir Roger Penrose also suggested as much - in saying, a new brain theory to fill this gap - yet we still pursue Obama's 19th century approach to understanding these philosophical questions.

[@johngalt3292]

Obama’s BRAIN Initiative, his collaborative research project will never understand/ reduce consciousness to an algorithm.. like the emerging political complexity, understanding new phenomena will require research beyond the biological store of evolution.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

WTF does "bing" stand for?

[@nerdyneddy7887]

Sounds like a load of pseudo science to me. But I've been wrong before and I will be wrong again.

[@QualityControla]

Why hasn't this been taken down yet?

[@KoolDude576]

I hope he is right

[@gav25x]

Why?

[@jonesgerard]

"but if in fact consciousness exists outside of spacetime how will we know if we only use the scientific method" We "know" by intuition, but proof is something else apart. Trying to objectively prove the highly subjective is a fools errand, like the square peg into a round hole, only the madman tries. Entanglement, non locality demonstrates "outside space/time" is not pseudoscience.

[@anthony-dc4sg]

So he traded neural circuitry for microtubular circuitry. What’s the big deal?

[@agl137]

Had he explained all the diagrams, graphs, plots, with their uncertainties, all the technical words he uttered, and the questions driving the research, I would have considered this as science. But just an avalanche of claims and speculations apparently made to impress, without one bit of evidence, is definitely bad science.... and most probably, just pseudo-science (which is worse).

[@VintijMindVibez]

I don't think the brain produces consciousness. If this were true, we would be able to cut out a brain, put it in a different body and and that body would be able to move and think. I'm not 100% sure this isn't possible as I have never witnessed it being performed but I doubt that's possible.

[@woodyguthriefan1]

where would the brain get its oxygen from if you "cut out the brain", therefore halting blood flow? That was a truly dumb statement.

[@VintijMindVibez]

Well the brain could reattach itself to the new body just like how the body heals itself. Also that wasn't my main point. So YOUR shit was truly a dumb statement.

[@woodyguthriefan1]

after 10 minutes of no blood flow, the brain dies. There is no way to transfer a brain ACROSS TWO BODIES in this time. If it were possible, it would have been done by now. Please, read a book, you're embarrassing yourself.

[@VintijMindVibez]

Lmfao you're such a hater. You're one of those people that calls people stupid if they don't know something that you know. There are kinder ways to tell people that, man. Relax and fucking help people instead of downing them.

[@codemonkey732]

Zee96969696 I hope you're intentionally being ironic...

[@nerdyneddy7887]

How on earth do you know which way that question was meant? Jumped in rather early didn't you? A wee bit irritable that day? Spirituality need to be shown to be fair dinkum before it can demands anything at all. The demand you speak of is your demand that it always be considered, in my opinion. I have heard spirituality used in so many different ways that the term had become meaningless for me.

[@mastertheillusion]

I wish people would stop trying to make consciousness into this spiritual untouchable concept. We will be able to transfer consciousness in the future no differently than the movement of information via wires and even wireless systems. To decry this as not being possible is simply the arrogance of the now. Absurdly wrong as always.