hey swarmfesters

[schristley]

Hello All,

I wanted to say how enjoyable it was to attend this year's Swarmfest; I 
saw many old friends and discovered some new ones as well.  I passed out 
a couple business cards, and I realized when I got back that the email 
address on those cards is old; I think email will bounce if you send to 
it.  Use this account, address@hidden, and it will work much 
better :-)

During the banter session, I mentioned a book that I had read 
(partially) about a theory linking quantum mechanics and consciousness; 
I couldn't remember the name/author at the time, so here it is if you 
are interested.

'Information Theory and Quantum Physics, Physical Foundations for 
Understanding the Conscious Process" by Herbert S. Green published by 
Springer-Verlag 2000.

The book is very heavy on the physics which I was not able to follow at 
times, so much so that it is easy to get lost.  The book covers so much 
that I do not think I could give a decent overview in a short email; he 
touches areas from string theory to gravity to show you can think of 
them in information theoretic terms, and all the sections are 
mathematically rigorous.  Though his prose sections are well written and 
quite readable.

One of the interesting notions that I got out of the book is that the 
act of observation or measurement of a quantum variable, which by its 
quantum nature is indeterminate, forces the variable to take an actual 
value; this is in essence the creation of new information.  His 
definition of consciousness is a synthesis of awareness and volition, 
where awareness is the acquisition of information, and volition is the 
creation of new information.

What makes the book not become a fanciful mash of quantum physics and 
biology is his use of information theory; specifically he shows that 
Shannon's classical definition of information holds true with quantum 
bits (qubits), defines quantal 'tapes' which are equivalent to the tape 
in Turing's machine, and states that the fluctuating potentials in the 
electrolytic fluid of the cortex can be regarded as a tape in a quantal 
Turing machine.

"The quantal effects are in the microscopic channels that are known to 
permeate the unmyelinated cells of the grey matter of the cortex."

After reviewing it again, I notice that it is more a discussion of how 
physics can be thought of in information theoretic terms then it is an 
actual book about consciousness, so I don't suggest rushing out and 
buying it.  If you are interested in more specifics, send me a private 
email.

As what usually happens, after going to Swarmfest, I get all types of 
ideas on models that I should try to implement.  My current interest is 
modeling the software development process, so look for some emails about 
that in the future.  I'm currently thinking about how I can describe the 
interactions between agents in a simple way.  I don't want to code in 
the known parts of the process (requirements, design, implementation, 
etc) as implicit in the model; instead I want to see if the agents can 
organize themselves into the process; i.e. what "outside" factors cause 
these patterns of behaviour to occur.

cheers
Scott Christley



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