The Brain Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics and the Unveiling of Material Consciousness

Many open questions or unsolved problems exist in all areas of physics. In Foundations of Physics, one open question, a century old, is how does quantum reality give rise to classical reality. This is called the quantum-classical transition, for which there are many interpretations formally called the interpretations of quantum mechanics. Now, the open problem may be located in physics, but is ultimately a philosophical problem. Physics has been unable to solve this problem with the methods of physics, say mathematics. Instead, the problem is philosophical in nature—the discipline from which physics came about—and so needs (in spite of what many hardcore physicists may detest) philosophy to solve this problem. A new angle on the subject is required; perhaps a different science may be useful, that of neuroscience. The alternative theory presented here, the Brain Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (BIQM)—which states that classical reality is the brain’s interpretation of quantum reality appearing in our collective consciousness—represents a multidisciplinary fusion of philosophy of physics, neuroscience, and consciousness studies to attack this key and lingering unsolved problem in the Foundations of Physics. This paper seeks to provide solutions for two main unsolved problems: 1) the interpretation of quantum mechanics and, by virtue, 2) the consciousness/matter problem, which is an open problem in the philosophy of mind and consciousness studies. This article not only represents an interpretation of quantum mechanics, but is a fairly comprehensive theory of reality.