Knowledge Tree
particle
Also known as: particle, particles
Facts (26)
Sources
Non-physicalist Theories of Consciousness cambridge.org Dec 20, 2023 12 facts
claimThe implication that all spatially related entities form a unified macroconsciousness leads to the conclusion that arbitrary collections of particles, such as a human and a cat or half a rock and surrounding air, would be conscious.
claimObjections to cosmopsychism include the observation that the universe lacks the unified structure required for a unified mind and that fundamental particles appear more unified than the cosmos from a physical perspective.
claimThe 'incredulous stare' is a common objection to dual-aspect monism, specifically the panpsychist version, which argues that it is implausible or counterintuitive to attribute consciousness to particles or simple, non-living entities.
claimAccording to the Chalmers and McQueen proposal, when a superposed physical system like a particle or neuron is measured, it becomes entangled with consciousness and subsequently collapses.
claimParticles with no energy cannot exist.
claimPhysics describes fundamental properties like mass and charge as dispositions or behaviors, where charge is defined by the attraction or repulsion of other particles, and mass is defined by resistance to acceleration and gravitational attraction.
claimPanpsychism typically posits that inanimate objects like tables, chairs, or rocks do not possess unified consciousness, but are instead composed of particles that each possess a separate, simple consciousness.
claimWhile the wave function does not determine the properties of individual particles, it does determine the statistical properties of large numbers of particles, which typically govern macrolevel states.
claimIn dual-aspect monism, the experiences of simple entities like particles are assumed to be extremely simple, comparable to the simplicity of their physical structure.
claimDual-aspect monism posits that everything, including particles, possesses both a physical and a (proto)mental aspect because (proto)consciousness is the intrinsic nature of physical properties, which physics describes only as structural or relational.
claimThe argument from non-emergence posits that consciousness cannot emerge from purely physical entities or by arranging physical entities like particles in specific ways.
claimBell’s theorem of no local hidden variables implies that it is impossible to predict with certainty the specific position or velocity a particle will collapse into upon measurement, regardless of the amount of local information gathered.
Quantum Mechanics And Consciousness: The Physics Of Mind quantumzeitgeist.com Apr 17, 2025 4 facts
claimThe hypothesis that consciousness influences the behavior of particles at the quantum level is rooted in the concept of wave function collapse, where a particle's position becomes defined upon measurement.
claimIn the double-slit experiment, particles exhibit different behaviors when observed versus unobserved, which leads some to suggest that consciousness influences reality.
claimQuantum mechanics governs the behavior of particles such as electrons and photons and introduces concepts including probabilities and wave functions.
claimQuantum entanglement, a phenomenon where particles remain interconnected regardless of distance, has led some researchers to speculate about non-local aspects of consciousness.
Panpsychism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu Jul 18, 2017 2 facts
claimIf consciousness does not admit of borderline cases, then a precise micro-level change in the arrangement of particles must mark the first appearance of consciousness, which implies an arbitrary threshold for the emergence of consciousness.
claimSmallism, a term used by Coleman (2006), is the view that facts about large objects are grounded in facts about small objects, such as particles.
Quantum Theory of Consciousness - Scirp.org. scirp.org 1 fact
claimQuantum physics establishes that all objects possess both particle and wave nature.
The Hard Problem of Consciousness | Springer Nature Link link.springer.com 1 fact
claimQuantum physics currently lacks a consensus on an ontological interpretation, with various proposals suggesting different roles for waves, particles, mind, and matter.
Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2025 ... plato.stanford.edu Jun 18, 2004 1 fact
claimElectromagnetic fields are regarded as real and independent parts of the physical world, functioning as concrete constituents of reality rather than merely abstractions or relations among particles.
Quantum Models of Consciousness from a Quantum Information ... arxiv.org Dec 20, 2024 1 fact
claimFluctuation-mediated Casimir-Polder interactions can create persistent correlations between initially uncorrelated and spatially separated particles, even in a steady state.
Critique of Panpsychism: Philosophical Coherence and Scientific ... thequran.love May 7, 2025 1 fact
claimPanpsychism can be interpreted as a form of property dualism characterized by an infinite proliferation of souls, where every particle is considered to have a soul.
Moving Forward on the Problem of Consciousness - David Chalmers consc.net 1 fact
claimThe view that the world contains only dispositions, without an underlying categorical basis, leads to a world of causation without entities, effectively making fundamental properties and particles empty placeholders.
Hard Problem of Consciousness | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu 1 fact
claimThe gap between conscious experience and the properties dealt with in modern physics—such as functional, structural, and dynamical properties of basic fields and particles—is currently too wide to be bridged.
Panpsychism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2025 Edition) plato.stanford.edu May 23, 2001 1 fact
claimItzhak Shani (2010) argues that William James' position is that there is no mental combination because there is no combination of any kind, as James believed reality consists only of particles arranged in various ways.