Can the Many-Worlds-Interpretation be probed in Psychology?

TL;DR

This paper explores whether the quantum-to-classical transition and the Many-Worlds interpretation can be examined through psychological experiments by linking consciousness and information availability.

Contribution

It proposes a modern perspective on the von-Neumann-Wigner interpretation, connecting consciousness modeling in neuroscience with quantum measurement theory.

Findings

Decoherence depends on information traced out in the environment

Consciousness influences the quantum-to-classical transition

Psychology may offer testable insights into quantum measurement

Abstract

A minimal approach to the measurement problem and the quantum-to-classical transition assumes a universally valid quantum formalism, i.e. unitary time evolution governed by a Schr\"odinger-type equation. As had been pointed out long ago, in this view the measurement process can be described by decoherence which results in a "Many-Worlds" or "Many-Minds" scenario according to Everett and Zeh. A silent assumption for decoherence to proceed is however, that there exists incomplete information about the environment our object system gets entangled with in the measurement process. This paper addresses the question where this information is traced out and - by adopting recent approaches to model consciousness in neuroscience - argues that a rigorous interpretation results in a modern perspective on the von-Neumann-Wigner interpretation - namely that the information that is or is not available in the consciousness of the observer is crucial for the definition of the environment. As such the quantum-to-classical transition while being difficult or impossible to probe in physics may become testable in psychology.