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originally posted in:Secular Sevens
4/4/2014 3:07:49 AM
14
Could the study of brain genetics help understand quantum physics?
I know the double slit experiment ([url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc]double slit experiment video for noobies[/url]) has been discussed to death but I still can't get passed the fact that mere observation determines the result of how a particle gets from point A to point B. We might not know how or why, but we can conclusively say that, based off experiment, our observation can mold the Universe.
But perception is not reality. When it comes to understanding quantum physics (or any field of science for that matter) we have to recognize that we are looking at data through our brains, and our brains manipulate the truth. Take color for example. Color doesn't exist in nature; color is how our brains make sense of light. We take light waves and turn it into color. Another good example is video footage. Video footage is really just a bunch of pictures consecutively displayed very rapidly. But our brains see these pictures as movement. Our brains take what is really there and they change it.
Now those were just a couple examples out of many. The question I'm asking in this thread is what else do our brains do to change reality [i]that we don't know about[/i]? And further, would we be able to answer that question through the study of brain genetics?
Science has the entire human genome mapped (i.e. we have the full sequence of our genome separated into individual genes, sorted and named), but we hardly know what any of our 25,000 genes do. But if we did understand how it all worked (or at least the genes concerning how our brains function) then we could see in entirety all of what the brain does to flip, twist, or manipulate all of the information we take in.
This next bit is just speculation, but what if we found out that our brains reversed time and played everything in our heads backwards? It's crazy and probably not actually true, but it would change everything we know about the Universe and physics. Or perhaps a more reasonable possibility is that time is actually a spatial property (like a fourth dimension), but our minds perceive it differently so that we can more easily make sense of it (for survival purposes presumably). There are so many ways in which the information we take in could be different from reality and we don't even know about it.
So could our minds be manipulating how we see the results of the double slit experiment? Or is there yet an even larger mystery at play? And if not the double slit experiment, what else do you think could our minds be changing that we aren't aware of?
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Edited by Plasma Prestige: 5/14/2014 7:44:18 PMAll of science relies on the fundamental assumption that our brains are capable of discerning the true nature of reality. This also means recognizing the inherent limitations we have as humans. Your assertions about "there being no color" are not true. Color is not simply the electrochemical signals in the brain, they are definite bands of electromagnetic radiation that are translated into visual feedback by our nervous system. Our assignments of red, orange, yellow, green, and blue may be an arbitrary construct of human language, but the visible spectrum is, without question, all electromagnetic radiation between 400 and 700 nanometers. Finally, it is very, very unlikely that our understanding of quantum mechanics will be strengthened through the understanding of the brain. Human consciousness is confusing and quantum mechanics is confusing, but that doesn't mean one must necessary elucidate the other. Anyways, endless self-questioning about the nature of reality is not really productive. Those conversations generally devolve into meaningless philosphical discussions that get us nowhere. We should embrace the scientific method and place enough confidence in our brains—the product of billions of years of evolution—to continue to ask meaningful questions.
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3 RepliesI love cats.
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so like whenever i roll a 6 on a dice it could actually be a 2
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11 RepliesEdited by RC5908: 4/4/2014 4:31:30 AMjesus christ dustin, you're dumb. in order to observe the electrons, energy must be put into the system that will then leave the system to be measured. that energy interferes with the system, and changes the outcome. it has nothing at all to do with our brains. jesus christ.
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5 Replieslol ... post a failed 1998 paper (in the form of a 2006 video) and try to extract curiosity value? Sure the OP knows this but Dr Quantum was disputed as the method they used to "watch" the particle caused interference ... to use the was analogy it would be like trowing a set of fishing nets in the path of his wave and wondering why the interference was not observed. As for the existence of color ... it exists in the same way sound does, or for that matter (no pun) the same way you weight something, a glass of water for example. To say that color does not exist amounts to saying that you yourself do not exist, as you are nothing but a collection of base elements perceived by another. But that would also mean that your post never existed, as it to is now represented as a replicated set of electrons on multiple screens. Someone needs to look up and inhale some air.
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1 ReplyEdited by Progo: 4/4/2014 4:01:23 AMBut what if our brains alter the observations we make once we figure out how neurons work?! Ming = blown [spoiler]I was tempted to quote Jaden somehow hehe[/spoiler]
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3 Replies"Observation"=/=requires conscious observer. An "observation" should be called a measurement or interaction which is really what's happening. Careful you don't get caught up in quantum flapdoodle.
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3 RepliesAccording to quantum physics I am quite possibly "the one" and am set to do battle with Agent Smith once I take the correct pill and free my mind. No joke.
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1. Clone Human to use as test dummy 2. Extract 25,000 genes of the brain from him 3. Sequence them 4. Create a silencing probe 5. Note differences Bam
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2 RepliesQuite possibly, I do find perception quite interesting and despite Physics being my worst science field it is intriguing how the two might crosspaths. I'm just going to say though, I'm out of my depth on both fronts. Neurobiology is a [i]very[/i] complex and specialised field, as is quantum mechanics and I'm just sat here studying Depression and Anxiety disorders <.< I vaguely remember the futurama episode where they explained the way 2D is perceived to those in the 3rd Dimension and then how the third dimension is equally laid bare by existence in the fourth. I don't quite know if that's accurate or if I'm just wide of the mark on the recollection but it's fascinating to think that someone in the 4th dimension (Hypothetical) could look at a 3D object like an Egg and perceive everything about it in the way that we can see a two dimensional object (Birds eye/outside observer) Oh the joys of sleep meds at 5am :D I have no idea if any of that even makes sense lol.
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Sorry if parts of this are confusing or need better explanation. It's hard for me to read through this from the perspective of someone who hasn't been writing and thinking about this for like fifteen minutes, lol.
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2 RepliesEdited by Explodingpiglets: 4/4/2014 3:35:03 AMI've heard of that experiment. I don't know much about quantum physics, but I wonder if the observation device they use interferes with the electrons somehow.
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Mind=blown...
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9 Replies
