Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Since identical particles[0] are inherent in QM, I don't think you could even define what one "electron" is or what it might mean for it to be conscious. But conciousness (or rather, proto-qualia, which are the part of "conciousness" that really seems to demand some physical explanation) could subsist in more complex systems, probably involving a high-dimensional internal description as a result of some sort of stable quantum entanglement.

(Indeed, the fact that the sort of basic subjective experience we're familiar with seems to empirically exist as part of intelligent life is a rather compelling argument for non-trivial quantum computation of some sort being quite feasible in the real world.)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identical_particles




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: