Looking for the Physical, Logical, and Computational Roots of the Mind

Abstract

We discuss the modalities by which we humans should (and in fact, do) compute. That is, we investigate about the logical languages and the computational modes of human reasoning, and the corresponding physical interpretation. In this context, however, the classical world (physical, logical, and computational) does not seem sufficient to give a complete description of the Mind. In fact, the Mind accomplishes different tasks, where it exhibits, alternatively, both classical and quantum features. There are some novelties in two important issues: the long-standing debate on the mind-body relationship, and Turing’s question about a possible identification of the Mind with a computer. The introduction of a quantum metalanguage (QML) for the logic of reasoning is the most important feature to deal with both issues. As far as the first issue is considered, the QML is physically interpreted as a Dissipative Quantum Field Theory (DQFT) of the brain. The corresponding quantum object-language (QOL), which is the logic of reasoning, and is controlled by the QML, is physically interpreted as the Quantum Mechanics of qubits, that is, Quantum Computing (QC). Therefore, the Mind is both language and metalanguage, and the brain is its physical interpretation.