New Book

Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 00:15:16 -0800
From: Louis Gidney <Louis4@cromer.demon.co.uk>
To: quantum-d@teleport.com
Subject: QUANTUM-D: New Book

David Chalmers suggests that a `true theory of everything' must encompass
consciousness ("The Puzzle of Conscious Experience", Scientific American,
December 1995. p.65). "... it will probably involve new fundamental laws,
and the concept of information may play a central role. These faint
glimmerings suggest that a theory of consciousness may have startling
consequences for our view of the universe and of ourselves." (p.62)

The glimmerings may not be quite so faint now. I have just received a copy
of a new book:

Bastin, T and Kilmister, C. W.  (Nov 1995)
"Combinatorial Physics"
Pub: World Scientific,
USA: Suite 1B, 1060 Main Street, River Edge, NJ 07661
UK:  57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9HE

ISBN:  981-02-2212-2

Bastin and Kilmister's, is the only work I know of that develops hard usable
science out of process ideas and information theory in such a fundamental
way.  They work from the discrete towards the continuum and show, using
combinatorial methods, show how the fine structure constant, coupling and
scattering constants can be calculated.

The authors do not primarily address problems of consciousness, but if any
work is likely to swing physics around through a `Copernican' revolution to
be more in line with what I take Chalmers' remark to suggest for theory of
consiousness, it is probably the work described in this book. Eg: "If we are
to speak of mind, this has to be present - albeit it in a primitive form -
at the most basic level, and not be dragged in at one arbitrary point to
avoid the difficulties about quantum observation."

Louis Gidney
louis4@cromer.demon.co.uk



PS:  I would like to insert a suggestion of my own that I have been hawking
around: that in multi-disciplinary discussions, instead of the word `mind'
it could sometimes be more productive (& neutral) to regard consciousness as
`relative existence' or `existence-for' when thinking within new ontological
framework - See ref (1), or e-mail me for a fuller account.

(1) Gidney,Louis (1989) "On Designing a New Ontology for Natural Philosophy".
    In: (Manthey, M.J. ed.)  Proceedings of the 11th Annual International
    Meeting of the Alternative Natural Philosophy Association: Objects in
    Discrete Physics" (ANPA-11) held at the Department of the History and
    Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, England, September,1989.

Louis Gidney - Louis4@cromer.demon.co.uk