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book1994

Shadows of the Mind

Disciplines:
philosophy of mind
physics

Summary

Penrose's follow-up to The Emperor's New Mind — responding to critics and developing the Orch-OR (Orchestrated Objective Reduction) theory of quantum consciousness with anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff.

Core Contribution

Orch-OR developed: quantum superpositions in neuronal microtubules undergo objective reduction — a quantum process not subject to classical computation — producing moments of conscious experience. Response to critics of the Gödel argument. The physical basis of consciousness in quantum gravity. Remains the most rigorous scientific/philosophical proposal for quantum consciousness.

Historical Influences

Alan Turing Kurt Gödel

Intellectual Lineage

Philosophy of Mind Quantum Physics

Allied Works

The Emperor's New Mind The Road to Reality Fashion Faith and Fantasy

Contemporaries & Peers

The Emperor's New Mind The Conscious Mind

Minds Influenced

Quantum Consciousness Research

Intellectual Posterity

Quantum Consciousness Orch-OR Theory

Discussing

Shadows of the Mind

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