The Future of Consciousness: Stuart Hameroff at TEDxTucson

Stuart Hameroff is an anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona known for his studies of consciousness. For nearly forty years, Dr. Hameroff's research is centered on how the pinkish gray meat between our ars produces the richness of experiential awareness. A clinical anesthesiologist, Hameroff has studied how anesthetic gas molecules selectively erase consciousness via delicate quantum effects on protein dynamics. Following a longstanding interest in the computational capacity of microtubules inside neurons, Hameroff teamed with the eminent British physicist Sir Roger Penrose to develop a controversial quantum theory of consciousness called orchestrated objective reduction (Orch OR) which connects brain processes to fundamental spacetime geometry. Recently Hameroff has explored the theoretical implications of Orch OR for consciousness to exist independent of the body, distributed in deeper, lower, faster scales in non-local, holographic spacetime, raising possible scientific approaches to the soul and spirituality.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[daultonbaird]

I always appreciate a scientist that will broach the taboo .

[BlepharopsisMendica]

Hameroff's hypothesis is not just scientifically sound, it's also mind bogglingly simple and elegant. There are no theoretical gaps or lacunae, and it points very accurately at the place of consciousness in the physical world without denying spirituality. In fact, I can't think of any other theory that satisfies the demands of both Science and Spirituality so thoroughly.

[Funandconsciousness]

Ahhh - I totally resonate with how he starts off:  "consciousness is the only thing that matters."  Nearly every discussion of consciousness I have ever heard blows right by this without acknowledging this point, yet when you get right down to deepest basics ... without consciousness, our existence/thoughts/beliefs don't matter one single whit.  And this is simply not arguable; it is a stable datum upon which we can build agreements.  Way to go, Stuart!

[EyalBarCochva]

Very interesting.
The speaker is so modest and wise, it makes you like him

[tonypmcmahon]

You know I strongly dislike the way in which people are quick to run down any kind of spiritual component in a theory. essentially if there is any mention out of the material realm it is dismissed as unicorns and rainbows.
I find this arrogant ...full stop. Only three hundred years ago we thought the earth was flat. We only left the earth using fossil fuels less than a century ago.
We know less than nothing essentially we are not long out of the trees. Why then show our ignorance and our pride by poo pooing every theory which doesn't fit in our world view.
If anyone had said we'll walk on the moon a hundred years ago he would have been laughed off as a nut.
Just because you can't measure something doesn't mean it isn't there. Our visible spectrum is tiny in the electromagnetic spectrum ....the same principle applies in other fields....just because it can't be measured YET doesn't mean it isn't there.

[LIQUIDSNAKEz]

The hard problem is this, HOW does SUBJECTIVITY arise out of matter? When we study and map out the brain, or (anything for that matter) all we are really looking at is structure and the behavior of structure. But we have no idea how structure, OR the complexity of structure, OR the behavior of complex structures give rise to subjective experience.

Sure we can manipulate experiences by manipulating the structure and behavior of the brain, BUT that says NOTHING about HOW subjectivity actually arises from the brain. Unless we somehow assume that all energy has some subjective component that is simply complexified by the structure of the brain

[FedererBlog]

This guy should get the Nobel prize for connecting science to spirituality. The sages of the past have known this stuff all throughout history by direct experience. Science is only now starting to catch up.

[aracknidd]

How many are still thinking out of time classical theories..  Yet having emotions and feelings.. the idea we are driven by an unconscious machine is surely laughable.  So thumbs up on this video for suggesting there is a bit more going on!

[КрасныйКайзер]

Remember when scientists looked at quantum theory as being a front for creationists?
Just keep an open mind, much love to all y'all

[martin]

Many decades ago I played with the idea that consciousness was equivalent or embedded in space-time, now I think that "Responsiveness", is the quintessential property & if matter is OF space-time & not merely IN it, then everything that we know that exits has this property, of which consciousness is an extrapolation of, namely meta-responsiveness.

[pillettadoinswartsh]

The brain doesn't "produce" consciousness any more than consciousness "produces" a brain. They arise together. There is only correlation, not causality.

[perseverance]

I heard the first mention of this general concept in a speech by Fedrico Faggin, Early chip designer/developer, guy whom hand in the infamous Z80 microprocessor, he referred to single-cell organizms & their apparent ability for a set of decisions to be made & those functions happen at a quantum level.

[baloog]

His presentation is just what you described - an impressive presentation intended to draw people in to hear more. Had he gone into detail, he would not have finished his speech in time. As a reader of his work, I can assure you, he can walk his talk and has stood up against panels of very aggressive scientists successfully without being disproven. You can go to his website for all necessary citations and details.

[QuantumlyILL]

When I first found TED talks, it was Paul Staments "6 ways mushrooms can save the world". over the course of those 18 minutes he changed the way I think about plant, fungi, and life in general. Graham Hancock did this ten fold in his book "Supernatural". All of it led me to dive into this consciousness exploration. TED's on the hot seat of science because so many many people go to them for science exploration and answers. Either they will grow up to the ideas, or let go of a chunk of audience.

[ernskleynhans]

Opinions can be pretty polarized. At the end of the day it does not matter as science will evolve and change (as it did over the centuries). 500 years from now, people will look back in history and see our current science as flat earth-like. In actual fact both sides of the coin manifest their primitive thinking by hurling insults at one another... the ego manifesting itself. Come to think of it, ego is the main ingredient for destructive behavior. 

[TendoTheDude]

This is INCREDIBLE information. I'm blown away with the depth and accuracy of this. We're reaching a point in time when modern science and spirituality are intersecting in believe and evidence. The teachings and wisdom of millennia are starting to correlate with the newfound ways of dissecting reality and if you don't think that's amazing, you need to do some more research on the matters.

[jonesgerard]

Schrodinger was formulating all these ideas in his book "What is life" too.

[ritcha]

This is some of the most interesting information I have ever heard but it was so rapid fire! Is there anywhere he speaks with a bit more time!??

[nacho]

Well, he has a good conclusion. This still doesn't explain what consciousness is but it says that the quantum computation plays a key role for the appearance of consciousness. I think that the brain is connected with the consciousness because a change in the brain can have an affect on consciousness and awareness. If we would go more deeper, I would say the neuronal interactions and the processes inside the microtubuli is only another representation of consciousness on one way interpreting the holographic principle.

Consciousness is much much more fundamental than we think of it . The idea that there are quantum computations doesn't explain why they are conscious or why consciousness arises. It is the same idea with many transistors and chips being seen as a neuronal network. The enormous amount of information does NOT make the entire network conscious.

Consciousness is a process in which feedback loops are created and as the idea of a fractal universe, the entire fractal is contained inside a small part of the fractal.

[cameronmichaelkeys]

Hameroff's 1987 book is a very fun ride, highly recommended. Even thirty years ago he was talking about Mind-Tech merger where engineers design enormous microtubule-based electronic systems that would become conscious. In that sense he was a pioneer. In 1943 McCullough-Pitts projected predicate logic onto biology, creating a black box model of neuron firing. 1952, Hodgkin-Huxley, another black box model. Hameroff challenged the view that ion gradients fully explain neuron firing. Good for him!