www.lesswrong.com/posts/fdEWWr8St59bXLbQr/zombies-zombies
1 correction found
Sir Roger Penrose (physicist) and Stuart Hameroff (neurologist) are substance dualists;
This misidentifies both Hameroff’s field and the Penrose–Hameroff view. Hameroff is an anesthesiologist, and Orch OR is presented by its authors as a physical theory about quantum processes in brain neurons, not substance dualism.
Full reasoning
Two parts of this clause are incorrect.
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Stuart Hameroff is not a neurologist. The University of Arizona lists him as Professor Emeritus, Anesthesiology and Professor, Psychology, with board certification in anesthesiology.
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Penrose and Hameroff are not accurately described as “substance dualists.” Substance dualism is the view that mind and body are fundamentally different kinds of things or substances. But Penrose and Hameroff’s Orch OR theory is explicitly framed as a theory in which consciousness depends on quantum processes in brain neurons. In their review article, they write that consciousness depends on "biologically 'orchestrated' coherent quantum processes in collections of microtubules within brain neurons." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy classifies Penrose–Hameroff under quantum brain approaches, i.e. attempts to explain consciousness via quantum processes in the brain.
That does not mean their theory is correct; it means labeling them substance dualists is a category error. Their published account is a speculative physical theory of consciousness, not a theory of a separate immaterial mind-substance.
4 sources
- Stuart R. Hameroff, MD | College of Medicine - Tucson
Stuart R. Hameroff, MD ... Professor Emeritus, Anesthesiology; Professor, Psychology ... Board Certifications: American Board of Anesthesiology.
- Consciousness in the universe: a review of the 'Orch OR' theory - PubMed
We proposed ... that consciousness depends on biologically 'orchestrated' coherent quantum processes in collections of microtubules within brain neurons...
- Dualism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In the philosophy of mind, dualism is the theory that mind and body ... are, in some fundamental sense, different kinds of things.
- Quantum Approaches to Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
There are three basic types of corresponding approaches: (1) consciousness is a manifestation of quantum processes in the brain... 3.5 Penrose and Hameroff: Quantum Gravity and Microtubuli.