2 - Anthropic Quantum Computing in Biology
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I'm about to make an extraordinary claim. The evidence is admittedly rather thin at this moment in 2018. But that may change as research evolves.
Quantum biology is an emerging field of study into biological processes that do not have a classical explanation - in other words, magic (in a very real sense) taking place in the natural world. As it turns out, biology depends on hidden parallel universes.
For example, photosynthesis is suspiciously efficient. Research in 2007 showed that the molecular centers for photosynthesis act like quantum computers to find the most efficient route of a photon. But what if that's not quite accurate? Later research could find no evidence of the quantum coherence necessary for this computation to occur, which makes sense given how fragile coherence is, even in a quantum computing laboratory. Researchers are jumping through hoops trying to find a mechanism for quantum coherence in the warm, wet and noisy world of nature.
But perhaps coherence isn't necessary. There's another way - once we accept the Many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics.
In MWI, when a photon enters the molecular center of photosynthesis, parallel universes explore all of the possible routes at once. If this was a quantum computer, coherence allows all of the parallel universes to match in the end, all containing the answer of the most efficient route. As we've seen, coherence is unlikely in a warm & wet environment, but the "answer" of the most efficient route does still exist in one of the universes - it just can't return this information to the others due to decoherence.
This is where the anthropic principle comes in. Let's call the parallel universes in which the plant exists/persists due to the photon finding the optimal route "preferred universes". In an anthropic multiverse, those preferred universes overlap (are identical) with those in which we, the observer, persist[1]. A post-selection is occurring and there's no need for the optimal route to be returned to the entire ensemble of universes.
I'm proposing that quantum biology is a form of anthropic quantum computing. It's been said that both the anthropic principle & MWI are meaningless because they are unprovable, but perhaps quantum biology is a proof. And this could lead to a deeper understanding of the how life is anthropic in MWI, so that we don't end up in non-sensical places like quantum immortality.
So biology could prove the existence of an anthropic multiverse. What are some of the consequences of such a reality?
Next: Anthropic Auspicious Coincidence
1 In a sense this would link all of life together, as we are only conscious of these overlapping parallel universes that have - in this case - magically efficient photosynthesis. This quantum linkage elevates life into something more than "chemical scum".
Quantum biology is an emerging field of study into biological processes that do not have a classical explanation - in other words, magic (in a very real sense) taking place in the natural world. As it turns out, biology depends on hidden parallel universes.
For example, photosynthesis is suspiciously efficient. Research in 2007 showed that the molecular centers for photosynthesis act like quantum computers to find the most efficient route of a photon. But what if that's not quite accurate? Later research could find no evidence of the quantum coherence necessary for this computation to occur, which makes sense given how fragile coherence is, even in a quantum computing laboratory. Researchers are jumping through hoops trying to find a mechanism for quantum coherence in the warm, wet and noisy world of nature.
But perhaps coherence isn't necessary. There's another way - once we accept the Many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics.
In MWI, when a photon enters the molecular center of photosynthesis, parallel universes explore all of the possible routes at once. If this was a quantum computer, coherence allows all of the parallel universes to match in the end, all containing the answer of the most efficient route. As we've seen, coherence is unlikely in a warm & wet environment, but the "answer" of the most efficient route does still exist in one of the universes - it just can't return this information to the others due to decoherence.
This is where the anthropic principle comes in. Let's call the parallel universes in which the plant exists/persists due to the photon finding the optimal route "preferred universes". In an anthropic multiverse, those preferred universes overlap (are identical) with those in which we, the observer, persist[1]. A post-selection is occurring and there's no need for the optimal route to be returned to the entire ensemble of universes.
I'm proposing that quantum biology is a form of anthropic quantum computing. It's been said that both the anthropic principle & MWI are meaningless because they are unprovable, but perhaps quantum biology is a proof. And this could lead to a deeper understanding of the how life is anthropic in MWI, so that we don't end up in non-sensical places like quantum immortality.
So biology could prove the existence of an anthropic multiverse. What are some of the consequences of such a reality?
Next: Anthropic Auspicious Coincidence
1 In a sense this would link all of life together, as we are only conscious of these overlapping parallel universes that have - in this case - magically efficient photosynthesis. This quantum linkage elevates life into something more than "chemical scum".
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