October 4, 2024
Join us for a fireside chat with the legendary physicist and Nobel Laureate, Sir Roger Penrose, as he talks about the connections between quantum mechanics and consciousness at PUZZLE X 2023. As two ever-perplexing topics converge, quantum physics and the nature of consciousness, hear from one of the great scientific minds of our times.
Sir Roger is renowned for his groundbreaking work in general relativity, quantum theory, consciousness studies and more. Along with Stephen Hawking, he famously theorized that spacetime singularities exist at the heart of black holes.
In this keynote, Sir Roger traces his winding journey of discoveries that ultimately led him to formulate the ‘Orch OR’ theory. He argues that consciousness arises from the strange effects of quantum mechanics within structures inside neurons.
Some profoundly existential questions arise in this discussion - are non-computational processes in the brain a key ingredient for intelligence and subjective experience? Do mysterious quantum effects ‘orchestrate’ the brain’s computations to give rise to awareness?