The Problem ALL Quantum Consciousness Theories Have

Dr. Kelvin McQueen, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Chapman University, examines the leading quantum-consciousness theories and the unresolved questions that still hinder them all: what exactly is collapse, and what counts as a measurement? Building on his work with David Chalmers, McQueen argues that the neuroscience of Integrated Information Theory (IIT), with it’s definition of consciousness as intrinsic causal integration (quantified by Φ), offers a novel way forward. Relevant papers and links: “Consciousness and the Collapse of the Wave Function”, David J. Chalmers, Kelvin J. McQueen: https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.02314 “Agency cannot be a purely quantum phenomenon”, Emily C. Adlam, Kelvin J. McQueen, Mordecai Waegell: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.13247 “Testing the Conjecture That Quantum Processes Create Conscious Experience”, Hartmut Neven, Adam Zalcman,, Peter Read, Kenneth S Kosik, Tjitse van der Molen, Dirk Bouwmeester, Eve Bodnia, Luca Turin, Christof Koch : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38920469/ Understanding Integrated Information Theory: https://www.iit.wiki/ https://kelvinmcqueen.com/ https://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/kelvin-mcqueen.aspx Topics discussed: 00:00 Introduction 03:02 What’s the relationship between quantum mechanics and consciousness? 05:31 Von Neumann and Wigner’s early ideas 06:59 The human observer as a measurement device 08:20 What is measurement and what is collapse? 09:25 The von Neumann chain and Wigner’s extension 10:35 The Wigner’s Friend paradox 12:54 How Many Worlds resolves the measurement problem 15:28 How many physicists favor the Many-Worlds interpretation? 17:25 Can the Many-Worlds view be tested? 18:14 A critique of the Everettian view 21:16 Is the Many-Worlds view static? 23:42 Wigner’s final view on consciousness 25:12 Consciousness says “no” to superposition 26:38 Integrated Information Theory (IIT) explained 31:33 Understanding Φ and its relation to qualia 33:32 Can qualia be in superposition? 36:15 How McQueen’s ideas relate to Roger Penrose 38:44 Links between Penrose and Wigner 39:58 The tricky part of Penrose’s idea 42:37 Compatibility between Penrose and IIT 44:26 Quantum Integrated Information 48:34 Superposition formation as the moment of consciousness 51:47 The “basis problem” 54:57 How superposition might form in the brain 57:45 Testing quantum consciousness with isotopes 59:15 Federico Faggin’s theory of consciousness 01:01:59 The no-cloning theorem 01:04:45 McQueen’s challenge to Faggin Copyright © 2025 Essentia Foundation. All rights on interview content reserved.