Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics [Hardcover]

Henry P. Stapp (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0387562893 | ISBN-13: 978-0387562896 | Publication Date: 1993

This major collection of papers by one of the best known exponents of the puzzles and implications of quantum theory will appeal to anyone who wishes to explore the profound impact that quantum theory has on our basic conception of the nature and matter of consciousness. The unifying theme is finding an answer to the question: how are conscious processes related to brain processes?

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews of the second edition:

"The author develops new chapters on many findings of recent research on the mind-body problem as well as their extrapolation to new and difficult technical and social areas. The book is highly recommended to physicists, mathematicians, social scientists, and intelligent general readers." (Albert A. Mullin, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1087, 2006)

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

"Scientists other than quantum physicists often fail to comprehend the enormity of the conceptual change wrought by quantum theory in our basic conception of the nature of matter," writes Henry Stapp. Stapp is a leading quantum physicist who has given particularly careful thought to the implications of the theory that lies at the heart of modern physics. In this book, which contains several of his key papers as well as new material, he focuses on the problem of consciousness and explains how quantum mechanics allows causally effective conscious thought to be combined in a natural way with the physical brain made of neurons and atoms. The book is divided into four sections. The first consists of an extended introduction. Key foundational and somewhat more technical papers are included in the second part, together with a clear exposition of the "orthodox" interpretation of quantum mechanics. The third part addresses, in a non-technical fashion, the implications of the theory for some of the most profound questions that mankind has contemplated: How does the world come to be just what it is and not something else? How should humans view themselves in a quantum universe? What will be the impact on society of the revised scientific image of the nature of man? The final part contains a mathematical appendix for the specialist and a glossary of important terms and ideas for the interested layman.  This third edition has been significantly expanded with two new chapters covering the author's most recent work. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag (1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387562893
• ISBN-13: 978-0387562896
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,859,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quantum Physics and Consciousness, January 24, 2002

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John P. Gach "[e-mail]" (Randallstown, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics (Hardcover)

Though there is a fair amount of redundancy in this collection of papers originally published from the late 1960s to about 1990, I found the redundancy useful in coming to grips with the novel interpretations posited by Stapp. His primary thesis -- stunning in its simplicity -- is that consciousness can be usefully construed as the collapse of a superposition of brain states. Unlike the more mystical folks writing on quantum physics and consciousness, Stapp provides a number of highly technical examples of exactly how this process might work neurophysiologically. Essentially, his ideas are an explicit working-out of Heisenberg's ontology joined with William James' concepts. This brilliant and difficult book well rewards the effort necessary to master its ideas. It is, I believe, the most sophisticated attempt yet to explain consciousness in quantum mechanical terms, far superior to more naive dualist attempts such as those by Eccles and Popper.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a clearly written and thought provoking book, October 6, 2009

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J. Alia - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics (The Frontiers Collection) (Hardcover)

This book is clearly written and for a general audience. Stapp presents not only his own ideas but those of other esteemed scientists in a well organized way. There are a number of anecdotes that are interesting and give insight into how the differing points of view on the quantum measurement problem developed.

The question of how to interpret quantum mechanics is not resolved and Henry Stapp has taken an approach toward it that is meant to address the question of efficacious free will and the mind/body problem. His approach is inspired by the work of John von Neumann and is neither reductionist nor solipsistic.

Some very thought provoking questions are addressed in this well written book geared for an audience with some background in science.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A PHYSICIST INTERPRETS MIND IN TERMS OF QUANTUM THEORY, September 16, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics (The Frontiers Collection) (Hardcover)

Henry Stapp is an American physicist, well-known for his work in quantum mechanics.

He states in the Preface to this 1993 book, "This volume brings together several works of mine that aim to answer the question: How are conscious processes related to brain processes? My goal differs from that of most other quantum physicists who have written about the mind-brain problem. It is to explain how the content of each conscious human thought, as described in psychological terms, is related to corresponding processes occuring in a human brain, as described in the language of contemporary phyical science."

Here are some representative quotations from the book:

"The commitment here is, I believe, to the appropriateness, in quantum theory, of a classical description of the experimental conditions, rather than to the fundamental accuracy of classical ideas at the macroscopic level. This position is in complete accord with pragmatism." (Pg. 63)
"Man's free will is no illusion. It constitutes his essence. And it rests upon the law of necessity. Any play of chance would falsify the idea that I, from the ground of my essential nature, make a true choice." (Pg. 91)
"The second problem is that, owing to a failure of an essential condition of isolation, quantum theory, as developed for the study of atomic processes, does not apply to biological systems, such as brains." (Pg. 147)
"Science this provides man with at least the rudiments of a cohesive view of nature in which his own thoughts and actions are integral parts of a universe that generates meaningful options via the laws of nature, but is not rigidly controlled by these laws." (Pg. 196)