Quantum Minds: Why We Think Like Quarks

Quantum Minds: Why We Think Like Quarks link
By Mark Buchanan
September 5, 2011

Quantum mathematics can now be applied to more than just quantum theory but also seemingly the mind, decision making, language, search engines, etc.

Quantum mathematics can apparently be applied to language. For instance you would think that if a thing, X, is also a Y, then a "tall X" would also be a "tall Y" - a tall oak is a tall tree. But thats not always the case. A Chihuahua is a dog but a tall Chihuahua is not a tall dog; "tall" changes meaning by virtue of the word next to it. The structure of human conceptual knowledge is quantum-like because context plays a fundamental role.

Computer scientists realized that the mathematics they had been building into search engines was essentially the same as that of quantum theory.

Peter Bruza suggests the reason is to do with our finite brain being overwhelmed by the complexity of the environment yet having to take action long before it can calculate its way to the certainty demanded by classical logic. Quantum logic may be more suitable to making descisions that work well enough, even if theyre not logically faultless.

Some psychologists argue that strict classical logic only plays a small part in the human mind. Peter Gardenfors argues that much of our thinking operates on a largely unconscious level, where thoughts follows a less restrictive logic and forms loose associations between concepts.