36 research outputs found
Contextuality in the Integrated Information Theory
Integrated Information Theory (IIT) is one of the most influential theories of consciousness, mainly due to its claim of mathematically formalizing consciousness in a measurable way. However, the theory, as it is formulated, does not account for contextual observations that are crucial for understanding consciousness. Here we put forth three possible difficulties for its current version, which could be interpreted as a trilemma. Either consciousness is contextual or not. If contextual, either IIT needs revisions to its axioms to include contextuality, or it is inconsistent. If consciousness is not contextual, then IIT faces an empirical challenge. Therefore, we argue that IIT in its current version is inadequate
Human Perception as a Phenomenon of Quantization
For two decades, the formalism of quantum mechanics has been successfully
used to describe human decision processes, situations of heuristic reasoning,
and the contextuality of concepts and their combinations. The phenomenon of
'categorical perception' has put us on track to find a possible deeper cause of
the presence of this quantum structure in human cognition. Thus, we show that
in an archetype of human perception consisting of the reconciliation of a
bottom up stimulus with a top down cognitive expectation pattern, there arises
the typical warping of categorical perception, where groups of stimuli clump
together to form quanta, which move away from each other and lead to a
discretization of a dimension. The individual concepts, which are these quanta,
can be modeled by a quantum prototype theory with the square of the absolute
value of a corresponding Schr\"odinger wave function as the fuzzy prototype
structure, and the superposition of two such wave functions accounts for the
interference pattern that occurs when these concepts are combined. Using a
simple quantum measurement model, we analyze this archetype of human
perception, provide an overview of the experimental evidence base for
categorical perception with the phenomenon of warping leading to quantization,
and illustrate our analyses with two examples worked out in detail.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure
Constraining meanings with contextuality
In this paper, we defend two claims. First, we argue that a notion of contextuality that has been formalized in physics and psychology is applicable to linguistic contexts. Second, we propose that this formal apparatus is philosophically significant for the epistemology of language because it imposes homogeneous rational constraints on speakers. We propose a Contextuality Principle that explains and articulates these two claims. This principle states that speakers update contextual information by significantly reducing the space of probabilities and variables in a non-commutative way. Some contexts affect other contexts not merely in terms of the information they contain, but also on the basis of their sequential order. In particular, we argue that the Contextuality by Default (CBD) theory provides a formalism that helps explain the role of contextuality in rational linguistic exchanges
Quantum Mechanics: From Realism to Intuitionism
The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been a problem since its founding
days. A large contribution to the discussion of possible interpretations of
quantum mechanics is given by the so-called impossibility proofs for hidden
variable models; models that allow a realist interpretation.
In this thesis some of these proofs are discussed, like von Neumann's
Theorem, the Kochen-Specker Theorem and the Bell-inequalities. Some more recent
developments are also investigated, like Meyer's nullification of the
Kochen-Specker Theorem, the MKC-models and Conway and Kochen's Free Will
Theorem. This last one is taken to suggest that the problems that arise for
certain interpretations of quantum mechanics are not limited to realist
interpretations only, but also affect certain instrumentalist interpretations.
It is argued that one may arrive at a more satisfying interpretation of
quantum mechanics if one adopts a logic that seems more compatible with the
instrumentalist viewpoint namely, intuitionistic logic. The motivations for
adopting this form of logic rather than classical logic or quantum logic are
linked to some of the philosophical ideas of Bohr. In particular a new
interpretation of Bohr's notion of complementarity is proposed. Finally some
possibilities are explored for linking the intuitionistic interpretation of
quantum mechanics to the mathematical formalism of the theory.Comment: Master thesis written under the supervision of Prof. Dr. N. P.
Landsman. 128 page
Exploring the âGod after Godâ conversations in relation to Godâs absence and presence
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-149)In this dissertation the author reflects on the absence and presence of God within Christianity. This is
accomplished through engaging and seeking to understand key conversations following the Copernican
Revolution and the-death-of God . The goal is to understand and model how it is that Christianity
defines itself as a faith tied to knowing God and yet is appraised by many as a religion characterized
by God's conspicuous silence, absence and death. These are 'God after God' conversations understood
to include contributions from philosophers, Essentialists, and Christians following the-death-of
God. With these 'God after God' conversations are tied to the institutional expression of Christianity
and the diversification of and within religion during the modern era. It is with this in mind that the
conjunction and disjunction between Christianity as religion, spirituality, and mysticism can perhaps
enable a post-institutional expression of Christianity as the practice of the relational presence of God.Christian Spirituality, Church History and MissiologyM. Th. (Christian Spirituality
A Lacanian and post-Althusserian approach to homophobia and its resolution
Bibliography: pages 266-280.This thesis is a theoretical analysis. It attempts to address the problem of how to conceive the process by which, in certain cultures, a particular social phenomenon, the stigmatisation of homosexuality, has powerful negative effects at the level of individual emotions. Individuals' abhorrence of their own homosexual desires, as well as individuals' abhorrence of the homosexuality of others, are considered. The answer provided is held to apply to both men and women. The problem is also addressed, within the same parameters, of how change from abhorrence to acceptance of homosexuality is to be conceived with respect to the relation between social and individual phenomena. In order to develop an answer to these questions, relevant aspects of appropriate theoretical frameworks are described and an integration of them developed. These frameworks are: Lacanian psychoanalysis, which provides an account of the individual subject's relation to the social; and a post-structuralist view of ideology, which analyzes the specific contributions made by the social phenomenon of ideology to the way the individual makes sense of the world. A particular aspect of ideology as understood in this view is emphasised and developed. This is the importance ideology is understood to give to the concepts "natural" and "unnatural". The ideological role of these concepts is then argued to provide a link, for the present purposes, between the psychoanalytic theory of the subject and the relevant theory of ideology. In this way a synthesis of the two theoretical areas, suitable for the present aims, is developed. This synthesis is then applied to the problem outlined above of making sense of homophobia (the abhorrence of homosexuality), and to the problem outlined above of making sense of the resolution of homophobia (the change to acceptance of homosexuality). The homophobic individual is argued to be best conceived of as trapped in a complex set of contradictions resulting from the collusion of unconscious strivings with the ideologically emphasised idea of what is natural. The resolution of homophobia is argued to be best conceived of as a resolution of the above-mentioned set of contradictions through modifications of the role given by ideology to the concepts of what is natural and unnatural. This conceptualisation of the synthesis of aspects of Lacanian psychoanalysis and aspects of a theory of ideology is then suggested to have a variety of further applications of the type developed here
Bell Nonlocality
Nonlocality was discovered by John Bell in 1964, in the context of the debates about quantum theory, but is a phenomenon that can be studied in its own right. Its observation proves that measurements are not revealing pre-determined values, falsifying the idea of âlocal hidden variablesâ suggested by Einstein and others. One is then forced to make some radical choice: either nature is intrinsically statistical and individual events are unspeakable, or our familiar space-time cannot be the setting for the whole of physics. As phenomena, nonlocality and its consequences will have to be predicted by any future theory, and may possibly play the role of foundational principles in these developments. But nonlocality has found a role in applied physics too: it can be used for âdevice-independentâ certification of the correct functioning of random number generators and other devices. After a self-contained introduction to the topic, this monograph on nonlocality presents the main tools and results following a logical, rather than a chronological, order
The Logic of Contextuality
Contextuality is a key signature of quantum non-classicality, which has been
shown to play a central role in enabling quantum advantage for a wide range of
information-processing and computational tasks. We study the logic of
contextuality from a structural point of view, in the setting of partial
Boolean algebras introduced by Kochen and Specker in their seminal work. These
contrast with traditional quantum logic \`a la Birkhoff and von Neumann in that
operations such as conjunction and disjunction are partial, only being defined
in the domain where they are physically meaningful.
We study how this setting relates to current work on contextuality such as
the sheaf-theoretic and graph-theoretic approaches. We introduce a general free
construction extending the commeasurability relation on a partial Boolean
algebra, i.e. the domain of definition of the binary logical operations. This
construction has a surprisingly broad range of uses. We apply it in the study
of a number of issues, including:
- establishing the connection between the abstract measurement scenarios
studied in the contextuality literature and the setting of partial Boolean
algebras;
- formulating various contextuality properties in this setting, including
probabilistic contextuality as well as the strong, state-independent notion of
contextuality given by Kochen-Specker paradoxes, which are logically
contradictory statements validated by partial Boolean algebras, specifically
those arising from quantum mechanics;
- investigating a Logical Exclusivity Principle, and its relation to the
Probabilistic Exclusivity Principle widely studied in recent work on
contextuality as a step towards closing in on the set of quantum-realisable
correlations;
- developing some work towards a logical presentation of the Hilbert space
tensor product, using logical exclusivity to capture some of its salient
quantum features.Comment: 18 pages, to appear in Proceedings of 29th EACSL Annual Conference on
Computer Science Logic (CSL 2021