1

Philosophising consciousness from string theory

Ningombam Bupenda Meitei
Department of Philosophy,University of Delhi




Abstract

The notion of consciousness has been studied in many ways out of which, there could be a
scientific approach of studying it using string theory which enjoys the mathematical coherence. The
paper aims to study consciousness using string theory in which the role of graviton will be discussed. The
notion of parallel universes given by string theory would be tackled to understand consciousness and
make an attempt to clarify the notion of other world or universe and parallel universes, the problems of
time travel, soul and death in the universe or universes of strings which gets twisted and compactified.



Introduction


1he [ourney Lo undersLand Consclousness" phllosophlcally has been slnce hlsLorlc Llmes ln Lhe
discourse of human intellect. An attempt has been made to study it in an empirical way since the Greek
philosophers Alcmaeon (c. 500BC) and Hippocrates (c. 460BC) - the founders of empirical neuroscience
1

who were working on the role of brain in solving philosophical problems, emotional and cognitive
processes
2
. Then, Plato came with the concept of an immortal soul immersed in a mortal body
3
creating
a breeding ground for mind-body problem which became more distinct by uescarLes' res extensa vs res
cogitans in which he argued for the uniqueness of res cogitans which led to consciousness
4
. The notion
of dualism born out of mind-body problem was weakly argued by Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas but
strongly supported by Karl Popper and neurophysiologist John Eccles
5
.

To study consciousness,there could be two major ways of modern scientific [Link] first
approach is an attempt to understand that the consciousness is based in the brain and for this,neuro-
biological approach is engaged. It discusses the local model of consciousness. The second approach
deals to understand that the brain is based in the consciousness by engaging with quantum physics. It
brings the concept of non-local model of consciousness.


The first approach is not of a focus in this paper . The second approach needs to be given some
background before going to string theory to make an attempt to understand consciousness. The second
scientific approach gets motivated by quantum physics to understand the non-local model of
consciousness to reflect on the notion that the brain is based in the [Link] need for such
discussion is to understand the continuity of consciousness since quantum physics which deals with
2

Non-locallLy from 8ell's Theorem brings the concept of non-local interconnectedness
6
. The analogy of
brain with a television and world wide communication is used to understand the non-local model of
[Link] biological nonlocality and the mind-brain interaction problem
7
helps in
understanding consciousness by solving mind-brain problem through biological entanglement and
nonlocality using quantum mechanics.


I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.",sald by !.oberL Cppenhelmer, dlrecLor of Lhe laboratory
that developed the first atomic bomb,when he saw the fireball glowing over the New Mexico desert at
the Trinity test site on 16th July 1945 and those words which came to his mind were derived from the
Bhagavad-Gita.
8
Erwin Schrodinger whose equation is fundamental in quantum mechanics has read
Indian philosophy while studying in University of [Link],he was influenced by Upanishads in his
understanding of scientific world .
9
The mentioned examples are to relate with philosophy and science
and physics in [Link] notion of string theory on its lack of empiricisim and thereby,many particle
physicists or scientists claim for its invalidity unlike other normal sciences whose laws are
experimentable in laboratories,often makes them to confer the status of string theory being
'philosophical' raLher Lhan belng appreclaLed as a sclenLlflc dlscourse ln modern sclenLlflc world.1he
puzzling between empiricism and realism of the string theory to understand the mystery of nature in a
human comprehensible manner leads to a debate of not whether to either accept or reject the
proposed theory but whether to give an epistemological status of the theory whose consistency is
backed by an internal mathematical coherence for more than thirty years or to empirically allow itself to
vanlsh afLer obLalnlng an lnconslsLenL resulL from Lhe fuLure laboraLory [Link] Maxwell's
theory of electrodynamics rightly predicted the existence of radio waves but unlike Ernst Mach who in
19th century said that invisible atoms were unscientific and now,no one would ever listen to him
([Link]),so,as long as string theory remains untestable to be proven wrong,there may not be a
necessary necessity but sufficient necessity to philosophise string theory under the domain of
philosophy of physics alongside with the advancement of it from the view of a theoretical string
physicist in contrast to a particle physicist who claims that strings are absolutely for crackpots.


Why string theory to unlock the mystery of universe or universes ?

The larger question is,where will string theory be discussed,if not in philosophy atleast when
physics world has orphaned it and even if not,but rejected it even to be an orphan of physics?


Historically,Albert LlnsLeln's general Lheory of relaLlvlLy Lo undersLand gravlLy couldn'L be unlfled wlLh
the quantum field theory which had already unified the three forces of interactions namely,weak,strong
and elecLromagneLlc [Link],LlnsLeln's speclal Lheory of relativity was unified with quantum
field theory to form QED (Quantum Electro Dynamics).The notion of unification of fundamental physical
laws governlng naLure ls essenLlal ln order Lo know 'our' unlverse and ls noL only llmlLed Lo grand
unification to form 1heory of LveryLhlng" buL also,Lo expound Lhe phllosophlcal LreaLmenL for
nomological unification.
10
1he breaklng down of boLh LlnsLeln's general relaLlvlLy and quanLum fleld
theory while explaining black hole,a region of space-time in which light gets trapped,as the black hole is
3

a unique real example in which its size is so infinitesimally small due to which,quantum law has to be
applied while its mass is so massive to infinity due to which,gravity law has to be applied and both the
antagonistic laws break down in the black hole,and to solve this quantum gravity problem,a rescue team
has come ln Lhe form of Lrlng 1heory" lnlLlally,buL laLLer,lL has 3 verslons of sLrlng Lheorles whlch are
now clubbed under M(Master or ?
11
) - [Link] scientific complexity in physics was so strong to the
point that Einstein in his life never accepted quantum mechanics and went on with his general relativity
to explain the space-Llme curve of gravlLy ln conLrasL wlLh newLon's law of gravlLaLlon ln classlcal
physics,thereby leading to the theoretical prediction of bending of [Link] theory,assumed to be the
grand unified master theory at present,was given a base in mathematical formulation by Grabriela
venezlano afLer accldenLally sLepplng on 200 years old Luler's beta function formula and subsequently,it
was glven a LreaLmenL of asslgnlng vlbraLlng sLrlng" by Leonard ussklnd Lo explaln Lhe phenomenon
which had been mathematically discussed only, for decades without physical consequentialism .
12





What is String theory ?

A string theory is the youngest theoretical theory in physics to explain the mysteries of universe or
parallel unlverses as Lhe Lheory suggesLs and lL ls based on Lhe fundamenLals and prlnclples of a sLrlng"
as the most basic fundamental building block of the universe instead of referring to either particle or
wave or dual nature of matter which is both particle and wave in the existing world of physics.

A string has one-dimensional vibration which comes primarily into two types,i.e. open strings and
closed strings like [Link],in string theory is considered to be made of strings and extensible string
in the form of brane - the surface on which the open strings having two end points get attached and
Lhus,can'L leave Lhe [Link] sLrlngs are photons and non gravitational [Link],closed
strings in the form of loop are gravitons and carriers of gravitational interactions and closed strings are
free sLrlngs,as Lhey are noL aLLached Lo Lhe brane (Lhe Lerm 'brane'
13
broadly means a physical object
which comes in the fields of gravity and string and it has to do with a dimensional spatial extent ) and
,namely D(Dirichlet)-brane obeying Dirichlet boundary conditions while strings with free end points obey
Neumann boundary conditions. String theory requires 11 dimensions to understand [Link] of 11
dimensions,string theories need 10 dimensions,the extra dimension is additionally required in M-
[Link] space-time (x,y,z,t) 4 dimensions that humans encounter everyday,the remaining 7
dimensions are compactified in topological ( non breakable but twistable ) shapes and dynamics of
sLrlngs as sLrlngs don'L need slze buL shapes and dynamlcs Lo compare under mlrror symmeLry uslng
'Calabl-?au ' manlfold. lL belleves LhaL our unlverse is like a large flat surface with an insignificant
Lhlckness called membrane or 'brane' floaLlng around ln hyperspace ln whlch,many parallel unlverses
are also present,closed to our own universe.


Lrlng Lheory wlll be needed Lo sLudy cosmology of Lhe very Early Universe. String theory may provide a
concrete model for the realization of inflation a period of dramatic exponential expansion that the
universe is likely to have experlenced aL Lhe earllesL [Link] theory is in fact an unfinished
theory."
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4

Philosophising string consciousness

Before discussing string consciousness,something unique could be learnt from philosophy of plasma
physics and cellular biology.

Bacteria may be no larger than 10 microns, viruses no larger than 100 nanometers,molecules about 1
nanometer and atoms about 0.1 nanometer. Does scale impose a barrier to life or even consciousness? If
viruses are considered life forms (as some leading astrobiologists argue) then they constitute "nano-life".

Consciousness may even exist at the quantum scale. "In some strange way,an electron or a photon [or
any other elementary particle] seems to 'know' about changes in the environment and appears to
respond accordingly," says physicist Danah Zohar. A group at the Weizmann Institute in Israel has done a
variation of the famous "double-slit" experiment. They used electrons, instead of photons, and observed
how the resultant interference pattern (which indicates wave-like properties of the particle) dissipated
the longer you watched the electrons go through the slits. As a wave,the electron passes through both
slits simultaneously but if, according to E Buks, it "senses" that it is being watched, the electron (as a
particle) goes through only one path, diminishing the interference pattern. Elementary particles (such as
photons and electrons) appear to possess a certain degree of "intelligence" and awareness of the
environment. Renowned plasma and particle physicist, David Bohm, says "In some sense a rudimentary
mind-like quality is present even at the level of particle physics. In a new field called "quantum
metaphysics", Jay Alfred has proposed that consciousness is as fundamental a property to elementary
particles as properties that make it "matter" or a "physical force" (for example, mass, spin and charge).
15


In the book 1be cooscloos uolvetse ,astrophysicst Menas Kafasto and philosopher Robert Nadeau
interpret that the wave function as ultimate reality itself.
16


Following the reading of some existing work mentioned above,it could be argued that,why 'mlnd llke
quallLy' whlch ls presenL aL Lhe level of elemenLary parLlcles llke elecLrons accordlng Lo a parLlcle
physicist,and,as astrobiologists too argued against scale of measurement to define consciousness in life
forms and also,Lhe very facL LhaL quanLum physlclsLs' lncllnaLlon of belng supporLlve when confronLed
wlLh Lhe noLlon of consclousness belng caged even by quanLum scale, 'should' raLher Lhan 'would' glve a
double standard and parochial intellectual attitude if (in case,if string consciousness withstanding that
strings are empirically validated to be true or till they become to be tested as truth)string consciousness
ls glven a sLep moLherly LreaLmenL on Lhe clouded quesLlon of 'pseudo sclence',Lhen Lhose who call
'pseudo sclence' buL can'L clalm an loLa of belng non-mathematical,would either have to rethink their
status of quantum consciousness or left with no choice but to respect string consciousness and besides
this,why should a scale of restriction be stopped at quantum scale only or whether it would go further
smaller even Lo a level of lanck lengLh,Lhe smallesL lengLh posslble ln physlcs,as yeL and why shouldn'L
it go further as nature would have no such restriction of only favouring quantum scale and not string
scale like Planck length,and why should nature be biased?

There could also be a further argument that,the question -why some strings get attached to the D-brane
and why some are free to flow to other universes and why they behave in that manner,has a calibre to
ignite the notion of string consciousness,as whether,some strings love to be with a particular universe
llke a counLry based 'bureaucraL' and some love Lo be llke an all Llme movlng 'dlplomaL' lnLeracLlng wlLh
oLher unlverse,or why can'L a sLrlng change on its own from closed to open and vice versa if it is
expected to be conscious,besides attacking the problem using mathematical boundary conditions.
5


The motivation to use string theory to study consciousness comes from the problem of
relativistic quantum gravity.I find significantly interesting to use the methodology of light cone physics
Lo Lry maklng an aLLempL Lo sLudy consclousness. ln llghL cone physlcs,Lhe quantization of a relativistic
string can be worked out most directly using light-cone coordinates. There is a different approach to the
quantization of the relativistic string, in which no special coordinates are used. This approach is called
Lorentz covariant quantization. The curves that remain within the light-cone and whose slopes never go
below 43 are posslble world-lines of physical particles."
17
The light cone could be used to understand
past,present and future time.


Fig. Light cone showing past,present and future.


Ontologising probable information exchanges using gravitons among universes


Understanding the probable information exchanges among the parallel universes would involve the role
of gravitons. Graviton is a theoretical particle having no mass and no charge and it mediates (carries) the
gravitational force. It is a boson. Its existence has not yet been confirmed experimentally,although string
theory predicts its existence as closed strings with minimum possible [Link] is also theorized that
gravitons interact with letptons and quarks.
18




Fig. Schematic presentation of
probable Parallel Universes

6

[Link] Magner
19
and physicist Brian Greene
20
talk about the probable parallel universes and
gravitons which are the closed strings, can leave our universe as they are not tight to D-brane,thus,they
can go out to other universes and come back too,thereby,making possibly a high chance to get some
information from the other universe when gravitons come back to our [Link] fact that our human
eyes can'L deLecL ouLslde allen information is because,human eyes can see only photons when strike on
retina of an eye and since,photons are strings which are non-gravitational and hence,attached to D-
branes,Lhus,Lhey can'L leave our unlverse and hence,can'L be Lhe source of lnformaLlon exchange
between our universe and external or neighbouring universe.A few physicists who love string theory talk
about location change in a short span of time by changing the mode and shape of the strings but for
that,other compactified dimensions are to be [Link] also discuss about human mind which has no
limit in expanding wild imagination which might also have been influenced by the in and out flow of
gravitons from human mind,not only within our universe but also from outside,thus,humans are also not
an absolute non-transcendentalist.



[Link]-Yau compactified string


Reflecting on Lhe 'in and out flow' of gravlLons,an observation could be made that,parallel universes and
exchange or flow of free gravitons,could be used to discuss the ontological status of other live forms or
other beings in other universes which may be shaped in the form of twisted Calabi-Yau compactified
string which is so complex to view from one point to another point of reference and also,the question of
nuL (near deaLh end ) experlences,meLaphyslcal quesLlons llke noLlon of 'afLer-deaLh happenlngs' and
soul ,meeting with people who are dead from human world,perhaps could be discussed understandably
with scientific conviction which has a mathematical consistency in a near future.

In my analysis,there could also be a problem in consciousness in time travel from future to past as in the
case of time travel, the condition which is given by [ L 0 , L (fuLure) L ( pasL) ] needs to be accepted
by time, which means that time (t) of the future [ t(future) ] is not to be equal to time of the past [
t(past) ]. And in accepting so, which means that there should be a change of time and lL can'L be zero [t
0 , t = change in time] as the initial and final time are different , the problem is about space (s) which
is constrained by its condition which is given by [s o , s ( fuLure) s (pasL) ] i,e. there should be a
change in space meaning different space [s o , s = change in space] making a difference between the
future space and past space which is given by the space condition [s ( fuLure) s (pasL) ].

Another observation could be,though,God is still not yet traced by string theory but,nevertheless,as
LlnsLeln sald, Cod doesn'L play a dlce.",l 'flrmly' belleve LhaL,unlocklng Lhe mysLery of our unlverse by
7

uslng sLrlng Lheory or,wheLher comlng nearer Lo LlnsLeln's dream of 1heory of LverLhlng" Lhrough
grand unification theory,are all leading to try finding the nearer thought ,perhaps probably thought by
the Ultimate Creator whose domain of search would become more bigger with string theory explaining
parallel universes. The fact thaL,sLrlng Lheory whlch ls non LesLable can'L be Lhe sole crlLerlon for
attacking it as non-scientific but rather,experimental particle physicists in Fermi Lab and CERN should
work on capturing gravitons in their own laboratories to further prove whether strings could hold
emplrlclsm and respecL lLs reallsm.1he 'probable' fallure of sLrlng Lheory ln fuLure mlghL be from lLs
perturbation (approximation ) theory and also because of the fact that,there is no principle or law
fundamental ( might be the strings would give the grand fundamental law in itself ) in nature,on
which,M-theory could be applied despite having so many examples of solutions of string theory due to
many dimensions,but having said this,its not an easy big claim to outrightly reject more than a few
decades old theory which has a mathematical coherence without any doubt of inconsistency in
approach,so,it would be little more unwise for any rational human being to call string theoretical
physicists as crackpots.

The intellectual necessity and philosophlcal urge Lo dlscover Lhe hldden LruLh of human's ever exlsLlng
mystery of unlocking the strangeness of universe and its possible neighbour(s) or the metaphysical
questions of the ultimate creator of Universe whether it is to be some God or gods or some energy or
aliens or strings or particles could not be considered to have failed in getting it approved ,if approved
from the understanding of the notion of philosophizing strings and trying to understand the probable
information exchanges among the parallel universes using a type of string called graviton which is
considered to be closed strings by the string theorists and also called bosons by the particle physicists
and this puzzle of where graviton could actually lie whether in string theory or particle physics could not
be considered as an impossible point of mathematico-scientific debate.



Conclusion


The study of consciousness in order to know the notion of what is that which awares of that something
is complex but could also be logically understood with string theory which also discusses the possibility
of parallel universes and with the knowledge of our own neighbouring parallel universes, the notion of
consciousness would become more significantly clear. The beauty of gravitons could play an important
role in unlocking the mystery of not only universe or universes but also of consciousness. With the hope
of such possibility , a graviton which is a string not only becomes important but the impact of string
theory is underlined ,thereby , philosophising consciousness from string theory could also not be a scope
of impossibility.

Acknowledgements

I thank my teachers both in Department of Philosophy,University of Delhi and Department of
Physics,[Link]'s College,Delhi for being my inspiration to think about the paper as well as my friends
[Link], Owais Farooq and Anish Chakravarty for their discussions and comments before the
finalization of the paper.

8

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9


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Additional sources

1. clenLlflc eallsm ln Lhe age of sLrlng Lheory" by lchard uawld
([Link] ).
2. Consclous parLlcles,flelds and waves" by !ay Alfred ,Lhe auLhor of uark lasma 1heory"
(formerly descrlbed as plasma physics" )
([Link] ).
3. Lrlng Lheory from physlcs Lo meLaphyslcs" by elner Pedrlch
([Link] ) .
4. Official webpage of Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl,German mathematical physicist
([Link] ) .
5. Some thoughts on string theory and Meyer Veneziano"
([Link] ) .