Knowledge Tree
Eugene Wigner
Also known as: Wigner
Facts (19)
Sources
Quantum Approaches to Consciousness plato.stanford.edu Nov 30, 2004 5 facts
claimWigner, Stapp, and Beck and Eccles argue that the ontic randomness of quantum events provides room for mental causation, allowing conscious mental acts to influence brain behavior.
claimEugene Wigner proposed in 1967 that a nonlinear modification of the Schrödinger equation was necessary to describe measurement as a real dynamical process that generates irreversible facts, replacing von Neumann's projection postulate.
claimEugene Wigner coined the 'Wigner's friend' thought experiment in the 1960s to explore the role of consciousness in quantum measurement.
referenceThe approach initiated by John von Neumann in the 1930s, later developed by Eugene Wigner, and currently championed by Henry Stapp, proposes that intentional conscious acts are intrinsically correlated with physical state reductions.
referenceEugene Wigner authored the paper 'Physics and its relation to human knowledge', which was published in 1977 by Hellenike Anthropostike Heaireia in Athens and later reprinted in Wigner's Collected Works Vol. VI (1995).
Quantum Approaches to Consciousness plato.stanford.edu Nov 30, 2004 4 facts
claimEugene Wigner proposed in 1967 that consciousness impacts the physical state of a measured system, extending the idea beyond a mere impact on observer knowledge.
claimHenry Stapp has developed a perspective on consciousness in relation to quantum theory since the 1980s, building on the work of von Neumann and Wigner.
referenceEsfeld (1999) examined Eugene Wigner's view of physical reality.
claimThe quantum consciousness approach initiated by John von Neumann in the 1930s, developed by Eugene Wigner, and currently championed by Henry Stapp has the longest history among approaches using present-day quantum theory.
Quantum Mechanics And Consciousness: The Physics Of Mind quantumzeitgeist.com Apr 17, 2025 2 facts
Non-physicalist Theories of Consciousness cambridge.org Dec 20, 2023 2 facts
claimProponents of consciousness collapse theories, including Wigner, Chalmers, and McQueen, were initially motivated by the belief that consciousness cannot exist in a superposed state, though they later encountered conflicts with the Zeno effect.
claimPhysicists Eugene Wigner and John von Neumann suggested that measurement in quantum mechanics fundamentally consists of observation by a conscious being, though they did not develop this idea in detail.
(PDF) Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness - Academia.edu academia.edu 2 facts
referenceEugene Wigner proposed remarks on the mind-body question in his 1967 work 'Symmetries and Reflections'.
claimThe paper 'Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness' suggests that the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics and its dependence on measurement imply a necessary role for consciousness, a view supported by Eugene Wigner in the 1980s.
Critique of Panpsychism: Philosophical Coherence and Scientific ... thequran.love May 7, 2025 1 fact
claimCertain interpretations of quantum mechanics, such as those by John von Neumann, Eugene Wigner, and Henry Stapp, have explored the idea of consciousness being fundamental, though mainstream physics has not adopted these ideas in testable ways.
Quantum Approaches to Consciousness plato.stanford.edu Nov 30, 2004 1 fact
claimWigner proposed a nonlinear modification to quantum theory to describe measurement as a real dynamical process generating irreversible facts, intending to replace von Neumann’s projection.
Consciousness-Induced Quantum State Reduction - Nova Spivack novaspivack.com Jun 2, 2025 1 fact
claimHistorically, von Neumann (1932), Wigner (1961), and Stapp (2007) proposed that the conscious act of observation is what actualizes a quantum state, though these proposals have faced criticism for lacking mathematical precision, clear physical mechanisms, or uniquely testable predictions.
Quantum Theory of Consciousness - Scirp.org. scirp.org 1 fact
perspectiveWolfgang Pauli, John von Neumann, Eugene Wigner, Henry Stapp, and David Chalmers have expressed the view that conscious observation causes quantum state reduction, also known as consciousness collapsing the wavefunction.