Composite Time Concept for Quantum Mechanics and Bio-Psychology

Time has multiple aspects and is difficult to define as one unique entity, which therefore led to multiple interpretations in physics and philosophy. However, if the perception of time is considered as a composite time concept, it can be decomposed into basic invariable components for the perception of progressive and support-fixed time and into secondary components with possible association to unit-defined time or tense. Progressive time corresponds to Bergson＇s definition of duration without boundaries, which cannot be divided for measurements. Time periods are already lying in the past and fixed on different kinds of support. The human memory is the first automatic support, but any other support suitable for time registration can also be considered. The true reproduction of original time from any support requires conditions identical to the initial conditions, if not time reproduction becomes artificially modified as can be seen with a film. Time reproduction can be artificially accelerated, slowed down, extended or diminished, and also inverted from the present to the past, which only depends on the manipulation of the support, to which time is firmly linked. Tense associated to progressive and support fixed time is a psychological property directly dependent on an observer, who judges his present as immediate, his past as finished and his future as uncertain. Events can be secondarily associated to the tenses of an observer. Unit-defined time is essential for physics and normal live and is obtained by comparison of support-fixed time to systems with regular motions, like clocks. The association of time perception to time units can also be broken. Einstein＇s time units became relative, in quantum mechanics, some physicist eliminated time units, others maintained them. Nevertheless, even the complete elimination of time units is not identical to timelessness, since the psychological perception of progressive and support-fixed time still remains and cannot be ignored. It is not seizable by physical methods, but experienced by everybody in everyday life. Contemporary physics can only abandon the association of time units or tenses to the basic components in perceived time.

Relativity of a Free Will Concept Depending on Both Conscious Indeterminism and Unconscious Determinism

Free will is difficult to classify with respect to determinism or indeterminism, and its phenomenology in consciousness often shows both aspects. Initially, it is felt as unlimited and indeterminate will power, with the potentiality of multiple choices. Thereafter, reductive deliberation is led by determinism to the final decision, which realises only one of the potential choices. The reductive deliberation phase tries to find out the best alternative and simultaneously satisfying vague motivations, contextual conditions and personal preferences. The essential sense of free will is the introduction of personal preferences, which allows a higher diversity of reactions to vague motivations. With an oversimplified model of determinism as a chain of events, incompatibilists define ＂free＂ as ＂undetermined＂ so that determinism becomes incompatible with any free choice between alternatives. In consciousness, free will requires a more complex model of network determinism as well as the consideration of unconsciousness as a causal factor. When ＂free＂ defined as ＂undetermined＂ is applied to the context of consciousness, it should be reinterpreted as ＂unconscious of being determined＂ or not aware of underlying determinism. Lacking information on determinism generates a feeling of ＂free＂ in consciousness and, therefore, gives the impression of indeterminism. Lacking information may be induced by an uncertain future without determined events--an unconscious past with biological reactions suddenly emerging from the unconsciousness or an unknown present unable to distinguish determinism of complex events. Therefore, at the level of human consciousness, the experience of free will is associated with apparent indeterminism although it is based on unconscious determinism. The concepts of compatibilism and incompatibilism are only two different aspects of the same phenomenon and correspond to consciousness and unconsciousness. Nevertheless, they can be considered together with a free will concept based on relativity depending on two different reference frames--the first person＇s experience frame or the Laplace＇s demon frame with knowledge on every molecule of the universe. Only relativity of the free will concept avoids the contradiction between ＂free＂ and ＂unfree＂ for the same phenomenon and could be a compromise for considering compatibilism and incompatibilism equally.

Revisiting Quantum Mechanical Weirdness From a Bio-psychological Perspective

Quantum mechanics has some weird aspects, which we simply have to accept, according to Tegmark. However, approaching this issue from a bio-psychological perspective allows for an alternative interpretation that avoids this supposedly inherent weirdness. Physical laws are established based on repeated observations or measurements, which involve sense organs. Our capacity for memorization and abstract reflection allows us to draw conclusions on physical reality, which can thus be represented with mathematical formalism. Therefore, physical laws are dependent on pure bio-psychological functions. If quantum mechanics is seen in the bio-psychological context, normal mental functions might explain phenomena such as the collapse of the wave function. If events of interest occurred regularly, similar to classical physics, the same pattern of regular events would be anticipated in the future. Conversely, if events that occurred in the past were irregular, like in quantum mechanics, they would also evolve in an irregular manner in the future. Prediction of irregular behavior requires the ability to imagine multiple possibilities in a kind of mental superposition. Only when one of the imagined possibilities is realized, the mental superposition of the future will collapse to one observable behavior occurring in the present. However, in mental representation, similar to classical physical formalism, some aspects of reality can be lost. When time and space coordinates are replaced by calculated time intervals and spatial distances, time periods and spatial lengths become independent of their initial reference frames. Consequently, the concepts of past, present, and future become irrelevant for time intervals. In quantum mechanics, as well as in mental imagination of potentiality, the notions of the unity of one space for one time and the time arrow are also eliminated. This analogy suggests that physical formalism does not correspond to independent physical reality, but rather to mental functions, which allow establishing a mathematical model of extra-mental reality. If quantum mechanics is conceived as mental potentiality for modeling physical reality, the weird aspect of the collapse of superposition disappears and becomes a simple transition from imagined potentiality in mental representation to observed reality, which could explain the measurement problem.

Heisenberg＇s Versus Von Neumann＇s Indeterminism of Quantum Mechanics

Irreducible indeterminism is considered by most physicists as an ontological interpretation of quantum mechanics, which attributes inherent indeterminism to elementary paJcticles. This view was extrapolated by von Neumann from the atomocosm to the entire universe. Heisenberg proposed an epistemic interpretation, postulating that indeterminism stems from ambivalent detection systems, rather than being a characteristic of elementary particles Transformative detection that inherently affects the measured phenomena is responsible for the indeterminism in the atomocosm. As the same does not generally hold true in the macrocosm, this discrepancy has led to the notion of the Heisenberg cut. As explained by Heisenberg＇s microscope example, high-energy light can displace electrons from their atomic shells in the atomocosm, but would not induce the same effect on objects in the macrocosm, thus rendering such detection neutral. Therefore, detection systems are ambivalent in that they can be transformative under the cut and neutral otherwise. Device variation is found under and above the cut and is the essential cause of outcome variability in the macrocosm. Thus, two completely different categories of indeterminism exist simultaneously under the Heisenberg cut, but only one is found above the cut, known as measurement variations of devices. Experimental exploration of elementary paJcticle behaviors is possible only with the help of detection systems. If these systems affect particle characteristics in any way, this would be sufficient to explain the irreducible quantum mechanical indeterminism. Consequently, the true behavior of elementary particles, whether indeterminist or determinist, would never be detectable. Above the cut, on the other hand, variations in device performance are inevitable, due to reducible perturbing factors, inducing measurement wJciation of devices Heisenberg discovered a general principle of ambivalent detection systems, which can also be found in the macrocosm. In the Wilson Cloud Chamber, vapor is an ambivalent detection system, since high-energy charged particles would produce straight tracks, whereas those of lower energy would leave an irregular trace. According to the epistemic interpretation, von Neumann＇s extrapolation of irreducible quantum mechanical indeterminism to the entire universe would not be necessary, thereby avoiding the uncomfortable conclusion that the entire universe is based on indeterminism

The Hard Problem of Consciousness from a Bio-Psychological Perspective

Chalmers introduced the hard problem of consciousness as a profound gap between experience and physical concepts. Philosophical theories were based on different interpretations concerning the qualia/concept gap, such as interactive dualism （Descartes）, as well as mono aspect or dual aspect monism. From a bio-psychological perspective, the gap can be explained by the different activity of two mental functions realizing a mental representation of extra-mental reality. The function of elementary sensation requires active sense organs, which create an uninterrupted physical chain from extra-mental reality to the brain and reflect the present. The function of categorizing reflection no longer needs sense organs, so that the physical chain to extra-mental reality is interrupted and now reflects the past. Whereas elementary sensation is an open system, categorizing reflection remains a closed system, separated from extra-mental reality. This creates the potentiality/reality gap, since prediction from the closed to the open system remains always uncertain. Elementary sensation is associated to specific qualia for each sense organ. Chalmers also attributed qualia to thoughts, with more neutral thought qualia. Thus at the qualia level, there is also an important gap, but now between specific sense qualia and neutral thought qualia. Since all physical concepts are simultaneously linked to neutral thought qualia, the hard problem might be explained by a qualia/qualia gap instead of a qualia/concept gap. The mental function of categorizing reflection induces the change from sense qualia to thought qualia by a categorization process. The specific sense qualia mosaic of an apple is reduced to physical concepts with neutral qualia by progressive categorization first to fruit, then to food, to chemicals and finally to calories. This might explain the gap felt in the hard problem, since specific sense qualia are completely different from neutral thought qualia, so that the hard problem could already be encountered at the qualia level. Since the gap of the hard problem is due to the interaction of different mental functions, it is compatible with a philosophical monism.

Sense-Oriented Reasoning at Three Progressive Levels in Tribal and Modem Societies

Sense-oriented reasoning （SOR） was analyzed by comparing the reasoning of tribal and modem societies on a specific subject, the conception and birth of a child. Tribal societies have beliefs, which are difficult to understand by modem societies. Their reasoning becomes understandable only when considering that their observations are limited to the macrocosm. Modem societies have access to the microcosm with a microscope, where different biological mechanisms for the conception of a child were discovered. Since the tribes＇ macroscopical observations were different, their conclusions became necessarily different. The inheritance problem can only be solved by genes at the microscopic level, to which tribal societies had no access. With observations limited to the macrocosm, tribes logically invoked invisible child-spirits of ancestors wanting to be reincarnated in children of the same tribe. Besides the different access to observation, the reasoning of both societies is similar and built around the investigation of a final sense. Reasoning progresses after a phase without any quest for sense through three progressive levels： （1） primary sense, （2） corrected sense, and （3） verified sense. In tribal societies, reasoning is interrupted at the primary sense level when it seems consistent with their general beliefs and traditions. This resembles coherentist theories of epistemic justification, in which justification is only a function of coherence between beliefs. Tribal societies realize the input problem of these theories, since they have no access to the microcosm and also illustrate the Gettier problem. Modem societies progress to the higher levels of corrected and verified sense reasoning, even if inconsistent with their prior beliefs. They initially imagined genes as a hypothetic missing link for inheritance, which relies on a start observation concerning the character of ancestors to the target observation, the similarity with the character of children. If the missing link is definitely verified, it shows a chain of justified beliefs between both observations, allowing the initially hypothetic missing link to be retrospectively considered as the real cause. The SOR of modem societies resembles the extemalist version of foundationalism of epistemic justification, in which the necessary non-inferential justification is represented by the target observation.

Emergence of Time From Quantum Physics as Opposed to Abstraction of Time Components in Biopsychology

Time is a highly complex concept,which is daily experienced as qualitative reality,utilized in science and classical physics as quantitative units,but denied by quantum physics.The time concept can be explained as emergence from the physics perspective,or as abstraction of time components,in the context of biopsychology,where quantitative time components are associated with the initial qualitative concept of time experience.Successive abstraction of the associated components renders the time concept more adaptable to different situations in both physics and daily life.The aspect of tense—with past,present,and future—positions time with respect to specific observers.However,as in physics,many experimental outcomes have to be grouped and individual;tenses must be excluded.The same is true for individual calendar references,which have to be replaced by time units.Newton’s absolute time was replaced in Einstein’s relativity theory by relative time.Whereas the aforementioned time concepts were based on waiting time corresponding to time flow characterized by waiting intervals between successive events,physics requires reference time stored on any kind of support,such as human memory or a magnetic deviceonly identifying time as its sources,.With support-fixed time,successive events are simultaneously accessible on the support,thus eliminating the waiting intervals.Support fixed time can be reduced to simple relations that appear timeless,and are more adapted to physical formalism.

Timelessness and Time Dependence of Human Consciousness From a Scientific Western Viewpoint

Eastern philosophy and western science have convergent and divergent viewpoints for their explanation of consciousness. Convergence is found for the practice of meditation allowing besides a time dependent consciousness, the experience of a timeless consciousness and its beneficial effect on psychological wellbeing and medical improvements, which are confirmed by multiple scientific publications. Theories of quantum mechanics with non-locality and timelessness also show astonishing correlation to eastern philosophy, such as the theory of Penrose-Hameroff （ORC-OR）, which explains consciousness by reduction of quantum superposition in the brain. Divergence appears in the interpretation of the subjective experience of timeless consciousness. In eastern philosophy, meditation at a higher level of awareness allows the personal experience of timeless and non-dual consciousness, considered as an empirical proof for the existence of pure consciousness or spirituality existing before the material world and creating it by design. Western science acknowledges the subjective, non-dual experience, and its multiple beneficial effects, however, the interpretation of spirituality designing the material universe is in disagreement with the Darwinian Theory of mutation and selection. A design should create an ideal universe without the injustice of 3% congenital birth defects and later genetic health problems. The western viewpoint of selection is more adapted to explain congenital errors. The gap between subjectivity and objectivity, the mind-body problem, is in eastern philosophy reduced to the dominance of subjectivity over objectivity, whereas western science attributes equal values to both. Nevertheless, there remains an astonishing complementarity between eastern and western practices.