Scientists offer quantum theory of soul's existence

Originally posted by sorgfelt
I got a degree in physics because I wanted to understand the universe.

Ill give you one chance to retract that statement before I embarrass you.

I don't understand what the hoopla is all about. It was proven many many years ago that the earth is indeed flat and later on to be the center of the solar system. Any non believers speaking up should be hanged until death. So, it's best not to question anything, just let our consciousness continue to follow the path into the abyss of non existence. It would be utterly ridiculous after we've learned "everything" to think that we are still just fish in a pond. Wouldn't it?

reply to post by Dark Ghost


I agree, there is a mechanics within the brain that is storing every single conscious detail from birth to death of our living lives and experiences from day to day. All this is creating ones own library of subconscious (memories). We can use this stored information to build our own quantum world where anything is possible and feels very real even without a physical body. Our physical bodies and every thing we are able to see while conscious is just part of the process or foundation blocks. For instance until we visually see the colour red or physically feel a cube, we can not completely comprehend what a red cube is, but after viewing while conscious we have this information retained and have generated and submitted to our memory . so while for example sleeping our brain then can access this information at any time and it understands exactly the red cube no matter it's size, dimensions or colour it's available for our subconscious to play with. Excuse this is basic example, I hope you grasp what I'm saying. Alternatively think of an art program on your home computer that is constantly expanding its tools/colours and functions like constantly upgrading and it's all saved and written to disc. After the art program has its new tool/colour/function then it's available to use. Except our disc is made of energy(or what we relate to as our soul) that is so so small it exists long after our physical shell(vehicle) disappears to the naked eye. Again excuse my use of language I am not a physicist. But I think I understand the concept, hope you follow.
I had a dream of Amy Winehouse just the other night, I could hear her voice as she sang a new song only recognisable to me and as if it were real. I could see her face and I could chat to her as if real. Even though she is no longer physically in our dimension , all the information within my 'disk/energy/soul'(whatever you chose to understand it as) every detail, characteristic, and attribute i took in while viewing Amy Winehouse in physical dimension was accessible in my subconscious to create 'my very own' existing real Amy winehouse.
So im saying ..The information I believe doesn't die with us, we just can't see it because its a kind of energy/soul we simply can't see it physically with our eyes or tools available - this is my first post I'm new here to ATS but this topic is so fascinating!!!! ..

Originally posted by Dark Ghost
An interesting article, which unfortunately does not go very in-depth about their theory. I don't know too much about either scientist, but the theory seems to be rather intriguing. While this might not be clear-cut evidence that the soul exists, it is a fascinating development that might lead to a more detailed understanding about the nature of reality.

What are your thoughts?

edit on 31/10/2012 by Dark Ghost because: formatting

it's an interesting idea - i've been aware of this theory for a while and for me the nature of conciousness seems to have more in common with 'quantum physics' than 'classical physics' - if there is a connection it may take a long time to figure it out though

thanks for posting it

by the way roger penrose is a first class mathematician and phyisicist - very highly respected:

Penrose has been awarded many prizes for his contributions to science. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1972. In 1975, Stephen Hawking and Penrose were jointly awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1985, he was awarded the Royal Society Royal Medal. Along with Stephen Hawking, he was awarded the prestigious Wolf Foundation Prize for Physics in 1988. In 1989 he was awarded the Dirac Medal and Prize of the British Institute of Physics. In 1990 Penrose was awarded the Albert Einstein Medal for outstanding work related to the work of Albert Einstein by the Albert Einstein Society. In 1991, he was awarded the Naylor Prize of the London Mathematical Society. From 1992 to 1995 he served as President of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. In 1994, Penrose was knighted for services to science.[28] In the same year he was also awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.[29] In 1998, he was elected Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences. In 2000 he was appointed to the Order of Merit. In 2004 he was awarded the De Morgan Medal for his wide and original contributions to mathematical physics.

His deep work on General Relativity has been a major factor in our understanding of black holes. His development of Twistor Theory has produced a beautiful and productive approach to the classical equations of mathematical physics. His tilings of the plane underlie the newly discovered quasi-crystals.
In 2005 Penrose was awarded an honorary doctorate by Warsaw University and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), and in 2006 by the University of York. In 2008 Penrose was awarded the Copley Medal. He is also a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and one of the patrons of the Oxford University Scientific Society. In 2011, Penrose was awarded the Fonseca Prize by the University of Santiago de Compostela. In 2012 Penrose was awarded the Richard R. Ernst Medal by ETH Zürich for his contributions to science and strengthening the connection between science and society.

link

if you read the section in the wiki page titled: 'physics and conciousness' it gives a pretty good outline of his ideas

reply to post by sorgfelt
I humbly appreciate reading educated opinions due to my own lack of education but you lost me at "I got a degree"

reply to post by Gatorman3


He doesn't.

I studied this theory in-depth as part of my thesis for my psychology major in college, I've been meaning to post my paper on here for a while. It is starting to look like the paper I wrote is gaining more and more credence. I'll have to figure out how to post the whole thing on here.

some people are desperate to believe that there is life after death....I don't really understand this mentality...because I know I did not exist before i was born...and I have no problem with knowing i did not exist...Yet most people don't think about it this way...they act like they have always existed and that the thought of not existing is unthinkable...when for most of time...they have not existed.

secondly...if there is a heaven...then it would indicate that only perfect souls would go onto a perfect place...like heaven...well as we all know...nobody is perfect...so the ego and personality of a person could not possibly be allowed into heaven...This is because even really nice people have flaws...and a perfect place like heaven cant have flawed personalities in it. Knowing this means if there is an everlasting soul...it does not include the personality of the person it belongs to...Even in religion..the soul is described as pure and perfect...

this idea of a perfect soul...which resides in flawed people...means that even the hardcore religious people..need to read their bibles more thoroughly...because they aint going to see their dead relatives and friends up in heaven...not if its only the soul that goes on. Like I said heaven would be no better than earth is it allowed egos.

So if its just a non thinking soul that goes on...then you will never know either way.

reply to post by TheBlackHat


Its a matter of faith and reason. I simply cannot imagine that a universe which erupts out of nothing, breeds life like crazy could not hold some deeper, unfathomable and unknowable meaning.

To me, it is only logical that there is more to it all than meets the eye. Can I say with any sort of certainty what that might entail? hell no. But, looking at the big picture, there must be "something".

Not necessarily a cloudy place for all perfect people to float too. in fact, nothing like that at all. Thats a silly notion born out of primitive humanity's need to make sense out of death. Comforting, but I can't Imagine that its particularly accurate... (though, I have no idea, ad infinitum)

reply to post by TheBlackHat



Do you remember what you were doing the 2nd week after your birth? Do you know most of our dreams are not remembered? Just because you dont remember doesn't mean you didn't exist.

Do you know what my favourite thing about theories is? They are just theories. A proposition that it might be possible. A theory, is just a theory until it can be proved, how ever there is no proof at this time.

I have a theory, very very small organisms live with in atoms, unfortunately we just don't possess the technology to prove their existence. Oh well, It's still my theory.

what a load of crap that is, might explain why you "see the light" but doesnt explain anything about a soul lol.

Some of these post are ridiculous. There are too many people that are quick to discredit a theory, or claim that it's nonsense simply because the word 'soul' was used in the article. If you have a problem with the theory of quantum consciousness -- which actually offers a viable alternative to just "consciousness is purely material" or "supernatural" -- make it a rational one.

Not "people are afraid of dying, period", as if consciousness/life is that simple. This is a THEORY, and one based on a reasonably sound approach -- not religious dogma.

Oh, look, Oneness is starting to show signs of being Truth. We are all, inherently connected. This is the first step to proving this argument. Once we can measure, once we know, we can then look to how it interacts with "others" what we will find: There are no "others"

Maybe finally conservatism and hate can die out...yeah, unlikely. Someone is going to pull the plug soon, the monkeys know too much.

Why do people always have to create a dichotomy between 'materialism' and 'spirituality'...

WHYYYY!!!!!!!???????????????

They can go hand in hand, damn you!

Thanks for sharing!
Nice to see leading scientific researchers dedicating experiments towards significant revelations of our eternal composition~
The term 'soul' may not be accurate though with its innumerable religious connotations, because all life having 'microtubules' will necessarily express this 'soul' energy - which either implies that all life has persistent individuality, or we are all immersed into a larger whole - actually - these are one and the same!

∞LOVE
mayallsoulsbefree∞

What would be the point of a universe w/o life?

There's a starting point, symbiosis.

Originally posted by lonewolf19792000
I can hear atheists all over the world screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I thought the complete opposite. It would mean that the "soul" (consciousness) can be under the control of man, leaving any god, if it/they exist, out of the loop. Leaving religious folks without a leg to stand on.

Originally posted by Just Chris
Just to add,

A comment from a chap called "Ryan" on the article page:

"experience of consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects inside these microtubules" I thought microtubules were found in all cells of the human body. The sperm cell is pretty much a head with a nucleus, and a long microtubule tail. Plant cells also have microtubules. Does the quantum theory of conciousness apply to these cells as well or only cells found in the brain? How about the brain of a mouse? It's an interesting hypothesis but this news article doesn't give much. Peer review study please~"

Ryan is right in my opinion. The Quantum theory must therefore apply to all kinds of life from mice to plants.

He mentions the sperm cell containing microtubules, and it makes sense if you've ever wondered how it would be possible for our children to have a SOUL of their own when in practice, it's been created by the parents.

Not sure if this is relevant to the discussion or not?

edit on 31-10-2012 by Just Chris because: (no reason given)

I dunno....

The nasty, evil, vengeful young woman that spawned from my loins certainly dosen't have a soul...

Only liberals need "scientific proof" of what is obvious to the rest of us.