Free Will, Where Does It Come From?

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Park Avenue


"...neurons may be far more complicated than mere switches. If we look inside neurons and other cells, we see highly ordered networks (the "cytoskeleton") comprised of microtubules and other filamentous structures which organize cellular activities.. Microtubules are cylindrical polymers of the protein tubulin arranged in hexagonal lattices comprising the cylinder wall. Cooperative interactions among tubulin subunits within microtubules have been suggested to process information, as in molecular scale "cellular automata". As the states of tubulin are controlled by quantum mechanical internal forces (van der Waals London forces), they may exist in quantum superposition of multiple states ("quantum bits, or "qubits"), and microtubules may be seen as quantum computers involved in cellular organization."

http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu...tro/intro.html

I'm not impressed. He's made no attempt to relate the biochemistry of microtubules to the electrical reactivity of the neuron, electrical activity being the ultimate conductive mechanism of the neuron. The fact that microtubules exist and that they're in neurons doesn't mean that they have form some "cellular automata". What is it that these microtubules do that has an effect on the electrical activity of the nerve cell? That is the real question. Next you need some proof that the hypothesis has some connection with reality, i.e., empirical and experimental data. Furthermore I'm not sure that it's correct to refer to van der Waals forces as a quantum mechanism. Rogan Josh could probably help here.