Penrose has been insisting that human consciousness is transmitted/generated/*something* by features of neurons called microtubules. I'm convinced this is utter nonsense. —Dan

Whenever it surfaces, I do wonder whether theoretical physics is "math-fun"; --- anyway, till we get slapped down, here's my (totally amateur) two-penn'orth ... I've been fascinated by physics since childhood, but somehow never managed to focus motivation sufficiently to learn to _do_ any: so I can usually understand the questions well enough, even if the answers often go over my head.

Not this time round. "behind (or before) the CMB" puts the problem in a nutshell. Both general relativity and quantum theory deal with observations made by an observer in a specific frame of reference located in (Minkwski) spacetime. Penrose in the video kicks off by admitting this, then cheerfully proceeds to speculate about some enveloping notional spacetime without any attempt at defining what behind (or before) might mean. It's turtles all the way down ...

I sniff a fundamental cognitive trap lurking. Our notion of time is inextricably connected with our consciousness, which in turn we remain unable to relate to any physical framework --- despite strenuous efforts (by Penrose and others) over many millennia. The possibility of progress seems to demand that such questions must be stripped of their dependence on a nonexistent frame of reference even to make sense.

Fred Lunnon

On 10/9/20, Brad Klee <bradklee@gmail.com> wrote:

...

I was wondering about this question recently, so I was happy to get a dissenting opinion via Forbes:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/10/08/no-roger-penrose-we-...

But the tone of the Forbes article is too businesslike for my taste, and does it mention that Penrose himself describes the idea as "crazy"? See also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTttUigXulk

When you watch this video, how can you help but wonder about the incredible mystery of what exactly is going on in the background out there? Maybe universal reincarnation is a plausible cosmogony? We don't know.

Fifty or one hundred years from now we could have better gravity detection, and a better idea of what is going on behind (or before) the CMB. Until then...

Anyways, congratulations Penrose! More and more cheers and congratulations for unexcelled creativity!

--Brad