On Tue, 30 Jan 1996 11:38:29 -0500,
Alfie <colinh at owlnet.rice.edu > wrote:
>Greetings. I am a graduate student in Linguistics, with a strong interest
>in Cognitive Modelling, and an even stronger interest in keeping such
>models consistent with what is known about neurophysiology. I recently
>read the following assertions in Jibu and Yasue (1995) "Quantum brain
>dynamics and consciousness", and I would welcome any enlightening
>comments...
>
Colin:
The cellular structure of the cerebral cortex is not known with any
exactitude - even basic neuroscience textbooks written by highly
respected and qualified neuroscientists make conflicting statements.
And the functioning of the cerebral cortex is one of the most
profound mysteries of science.
This has led to an enormous amount of speculation, much of it by
scientists who lack any formal training or "hands on" experience in
neuroscience or any related discipline. There is a large amount of
this material on the Internet, but there are also an increasing number
of books and papers being published by these people. Physicists,
followed closely by mathematicians and philosophers seem to be the
worst offenders. Anytime any self-respecting member of the behavioral
and brain science community hears the words "quantum" and
"consciousness" used together in a single sentence they should run
like crazy!
PS: In case others are wondering, I don't have a classical training
in neuroscience, but I do have an extensive professional, educational,
and practical background in artificial intelligence, the psychology of
human decision making, and the psychology of personality and its
assessment. This is in addition to a general background in
engineering, and computer science, and an extensive knowledge of the
literature in medicine and psychiatry. Plus my very first degree was
in physics and pure mathematics.
AJR
