THE QUALION HYPOTHESES: Some New Proposals on the Physical and Supraphysical Bases of the Conscious Mind (Part 1)

Abstract

Cogent objections to explaining mental phenomena solely in terms of the known components of the brain indicate that new ways of confronting the problem may be needed. The approach taken here is to consider whether physical processes could endow the brain with something unexpected, elusive to detection, and “mindful.”

This article presents two mechanisms that deserve scrutiny. One or the other may transform energy from the body’s 310 K thermal background into a brain-wide microcosm of localized, spinning quanta that are stable and immune to absorption—a highly versatile microcosm with perhaps 10²⁴–10²⁶ massless components.

Logic suggests these energy structures exist and are the ultimate psychophysical nexus. Essentially, they are proposed to generate highly variable levels and states of supraphysical consciousness fields into the virtual emptiness of the brain region. (Recall that all matter is 99.99+% empty space.) These fields are attributed an inherently protean, manifold character and the ability to superimpose network-wide into a single ultracomplex field.

When these and other postulates are then added to what is known about the brain’s involvement in cognition, they provide a coherent framework for understanding the genesis of the conscious mind, its continuity as a relatively autonomous, higher-level system, its content and processes, and its ability to exert volitional controls. The basics of these proposals are testable in described ways.