Recently I’ve been wondering, all the range of topics that are discussed in quantum physics and quantum mechanics (QM), how closely do they relate to the human brain? Afterall, some scientists theorize that the brain could be a quantum mechanical wonder that we have yet to fully tap into. Quantum mechanics at its nature is indeterminate, the issue is often keeping it that way long enough to encode information, before it collapses into the classical definition of mechanics, which would just be coded bit information. 

Well I am a man of faith, I believe that God has given us all a free and open mind, ready to adapt to the necessities of life and our environment, we make our own choices. That idea of our own choice and choosing our own destiny relates closely to the way QM works because as mentioned before, quantum science relies on the idea of indeterminate mechanisms to fulfill its purpose. When a qubit is held in superposition, it is experiencing zero or near zero resistance relative to its environment. It’s through this “magic” that qubits are able to hold two states (or more) of information in one phase.

If our brain was deterministic in this sense, it would mean that our lives have already been predetermined, and we are simply going through the motions of our actions. Well I do not think that is really the case. In fact, I think most of our daily activities and actions are going through a state of quantum computation as we interact with new possibilities. Our bodies might try to fall into a routine, and therefore conserve energy without having to access this higher state of mind. Perhaps, this is why we find comfort in having a set routine that we enjoy and is healthy for us, it's simply easier for our mind.

Let's play devil’s advocate and say that our brain experiences the effects of QM but ultimately shares no fidelity to the QM environment (meaning it doesn’t actually perform any QM within it). The brain itself would still need to be able to access quantum information in order to go about a change in tasks, or learning wholly new information. Interactions with others can be used to disprove this however.

Let’s propose a thought experiment, one in which you and a friend are in a room with a singular cup of cold water. Your friend mentions that he's thirsty, so you indicate he should take a sip of the water cup. He hesitates, not wanting to do something someone else told him to do. However, he remains thirsty and he begins to wonder if he should oblige and drink from the cup anyway. Doing so would mean foregoing his own intrinsic desire to not do what someone else tells him to. However, not doing so would mean he remains thirsty and going against his basic instincts. In this case, is it his choice to drink water from the cup, or was the choice given to him by his friend?

Some might surmise that it was his choice all along, he just created a separate scenario in his head – Not wanting to do what his friend told him to do–. However, this indicates that his brain has the ability to create a range of scenarios that hold deterministic power, which I then use to conclude that his brain must have access to QM to have created it.

Yet others may argue that if the friend had not been there, or had not told him to drink from the cup of water, they would not have had to create said scenario. Instead, they would have just instinctively drank from the cup of water. This may be true, which makes me believe that QM within our brain may be more active when we interact with other individuals.

What are your thoughts on this experiment? Can you think of any cool variations that would give other interesting outcomes? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!