How can scientists establish an observer-independent science? Embodied cognition, consciousness and quantum mechanics

TL;DR

This paper explores how embodied cognition and quantum physics can inform the development of an observer-independent science by examining the roles of observers and the nature of quantum dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces conjectures linking embodiment with quantum dynamics and proposes that describing scientists from multiple perspectives is essential for observer-independent science.

Findings

Embodiment can manifest aspects of imaginary-time quantum dynamics.

Additional constraints are needed to realize real-time quantum dynamics.

Observers have complementary roles as objects and subjects in scientific observation.

Abstract

Evidence is growing for the theory of embodied cognition, which posits that action and perception co-determine each other, forming an action-perception loop. This suggests that we humans somehow participate in what we perceive. So, how can scientists escape the action-perception loop to obtain an observer-independent description of the world? Here we present a set of conjectures informed by the philosophy of mind and a reverse-engineering of science and quantum physics to explore this question. We argue that embodiment, as traditionally understood, can manifest aspects of imaginary-time quantum dynamics. We then explore what additional constraints are required to obtain aspects of genuine, real-time quantum dynamics. In particular, we conjecture that an embodied scientist doing experiments must be described from the perspective of another scientist, which is ignored in traditional approaches to embodied cognition, and that observers play complementary roles as both objects experienced by other observers and ``subjects'' that experience other objects.