Understanding the Math of Consciousness with Andrés Gómez-Emilsson (Qualia Research Institute)
Can subjective experience be boiled down to math?
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I’m glad that there’s a seemingly growing contingency in the scientific community who feel deeply inspired to help us better understand consciousness in the language of Science.
It’s an important step in human development and will be imperative for consciousness expansion to be embraced by the mainstream.
Today’s guest is one of those people. Andrés Gómez-Emilsson is the founder of Qualia Research Institute (QRI). QRI seeks to formalize the math behind our subjective experience and its emotional valence in order to map the state-space of consciousness. One way you can think about this is that all states of being are just different expressions or configurations of underlying math.
The bet is that understanding this math can help improve the human experience. Broadly speaking, I think anything that helps us see and understand ourselves more clearly is generally supportive. So I find approaching this from the vantage point of math vs. direct experience to be quite interesting.
In this conversation, we explore what Andres and the Qualia Research Institute team have learned thus far while translating many consciousness concepts into the language of math.
For example, have you ever thought about how your consciousness has a specific geometric shape? Or how math could explain that we are all an individual point of presence of a universal field of consciousness?
I found these topics fascinating to explore.
Andrés is also deeply following the A.I. space and shares his opinion on whether our current technology will develop its own consciousness. Spoiler alert, he doesn’t think it can become conscious and shares why.
Interesting ideas from our conversation:
What does qualia mean in reference to conscious experience
What science has learned learned about what creates a high quality experience
The importance of coherence and phase locking
The topology of consciousness and how it creates boundaries to our experience
How muscle tension can modulate electromagnetic waves and affect the our state’s coherence
Current evidence for the relationship between vibrations and valence
Which advancements in technology, such as EEG, MEG, and fMRI, could enhance consciousness research
The limits of current AI’s capacity to develop consciousness
Ethical concerns about conscious AI’s
Andrés is a fascinating and engaging guest who provides a different perspective than most of the people I’ve had on the show.
Although I am less adept when it comes to advanced math, I greatly appreciate his perspective and the work his team is doing.
I hope you enjoy this conversation,
-Scott
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Episode Transcript
Show notes:
00:00 - Introduction and Definition of Qualia
02:47 - Shape of Consciousness
05:12 - What Makes for a High Quality Experience?
10:06 - Neural Annealing and Coherence
15:00 - Heart-Mind Coherence and Empathy
21:43 - Unified Field and Individuation
24:49 - Topology and Consciousness
27:07 - Boundary Dissolution
27:33 - Experiences of Highly Attained Meditators
29:27 - Moments of Cessation in Meditation
31:32 - Muscle Tension and Electromagnetic Waves
36:02 - Releasing Tension through Yoga and Fascia Work
39:33 - Trauma and Geometric Frustration
41:39 - Healing Trauma with Equanimity and Loving Kindness
46:14 - Empirical Research on Consciousness
47:15 - Advancements in Technology for Consciousness Research
49:00 - Current AI and Consciousness
54:10 - The Future of AI and Consciousness
55:17 - Learn More about Qualia
Hi Scott, what a fabulous episode! I love the phraseology “the language of science”. Although science is just a single lens, I’m still a sucker for all things empirical! So this episode looks like the perfect blend of subjective experience and mathematical factoids! Can’t wait to give the full episode a listen - thanks for sharing!
«One way you can think about this is that all states of being are just different expressions or configurations of underlying math.» Do you have any reflections on the difference between «states of being» and «being»? Depending om how you define «state», it might be advantageous to clarify that the reducibility of (states of) being to math is an assumption of certain models of consciousness and/or being and not in any way a universal belief/fact/truth.