According to a new theory developed by Johnjoe McFadden, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Director of the Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Centre at the University of Surrey, our brain’s ability to think, be aware and create consciousness is caused by the electromagnetic energy produced within the brain matter.
His new theory was first published in the Oxford University Press journal, Neuroscience of Consciousness. McFadden suggests that the brain’s energy field is in itself consciousness.
If true, this would impact future research to become a reality in the development of conscious AI with robotics becoming aware and forming the ability to think and be more human-like.
Theories of the past, viewed consciousness as a supernatural phenomenon, experienced only in humans and possibly other animals, that link the possession of an immaterial soul with consciousness, free-will and thought. Something that an inanimate object or thing is incapable of.
Today, most neuroscientists believe it is the brain’s billions of nerve fibers that consciousness is derived. This more monistic stance of matter and soul is refuted by McFadden, who contrasts his more dualistic view based on matter and energy.
McFadden’s scientific theory identifies that the firing of the brain and central nervous system send both a bioelectric signal down the nerve fibers along with an electromagnetic energy into nearby brain tissues using the same nerve fibers. Yet, the information of the electromagnetic energy that share these same nerve pathways and it’s affects go unnoticed. Because they are an “immaterial wave of energy” as opposed to a measurable “flow of atoms in and out of the nerves.”
McFadden said: “How brain matter becomes aware and manages to think is a mystery that has been pondered by philosophers, theologians, and ordinary people for millennia. I believe this mystery has now been solved, and the consciousness is the experience of nerves plugging into the brain’s self-generated electromagnetic field to drive what we call “free will” and our voluntary actions”.
Routine brain scanning techniques are done with EEG (electroencephalogram) or MEG (magnetoencephalography) to detect the electromagnetic field of the brain. There is a long-standing belief within the scientific community that correlates brainwaves to brain function and behavior.
According to McFadden, emphasis on the electromagnetic field should be placed on how it relates to consciousness, which drives “free-will and voluntary actions.”
McFadden’s theory supports why computers today can’t demonstrate anywhere close to a glimpse of consciousness, in spite of the fact of their complexity and speed. But, believes the creation of thinking robots could become a reality with proper technical adjustments in the future.
Think of what this would mean for all of humanity and if it could be realized, how it would dramatically alter the way we live.
-A Balance Brain is a Better Brain-