Ideas on cosmology, consciousness, and philosophy from Roger Penrose - a Nobel Prize winning physicist

Here are some interesting, if controversial, ideas that I recently came across from Roger Penrose, a winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics.

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Introduction

Along with Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez, Roger Penrose won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for devising a set of tools, in 1964, for the study of black holes. With these tools, he showed that the formation of black holes provides a "robust prediction of the general theory of relativity", and he was also able to describe the deep interior of black holes in great detail. He is also known for his imagining of Penrose tiles, the Penrose diagram, and the Penrose process. If that's not enough, he also collaborated with Stephen Hawking to create the Penrose-Hawking Singularity Theorems.

My first brushes with Roger Penrose were around the beginning of the 21^st century, when I read his books, The Emperor's New Mind, and Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness. In these two fascinating works, Penrose argued that consciousness is not a computational process, and therefore cannot be accomplished by a computer. He further argued that a new branch of science, quantum consciousness would be needed in order to gain a better understanding of consciousness. As a result, I was somewhat familiar with his ideas on consciousness.

This week, I came across an interview that Penrose did with Jordan Peterson early last year, and learned that - in addition to his thoughts on consciousness - Penrose has some other interesting and unorthodox ideas that are fun to consider. The video is here:

In this article, I'd like to discuss three of those topics. First, of course, I'll have to comment on his ideas on consciousness because that's why I listened to the video at all; second, Penrose discusses a sort of paradox involving the existence of mind, matter, and mathematics; and finally, he also has an interesting and offbeat theory of cosmology, which is a description of the origin and nature of the universe.

Consciousness is not computational

I thought this section of the interview was sort of frustrating and funny, in an ironic sense. Penrose wrote two books on the topic of consciousness, and "The Emperor's New Mind" - in particular - was a fairly long book. Clearly, he has a great deal to say on the matter. But he really resisted delving into the topic during the interview, basically limiting his discussion to his belief that Gödel's first theorem implies that consciousness cannot be computational. As I understand the argument, it goes something like this:

Simplistically, Gödel's fist theorem says that for any sufficiently complex system of logic, there will be statements that are true, but cannot be proven true within the rules of the system. However, in reality, conscious entities can recognize these statements as true. To Penrose, this implies that consciousness must operate at a layer that exists outside the computational rules of logic.

As I recall his other works, Penrose suggests that consciousness arises out of a probabilistic quantum layer of reality through a structure that he referred to as microtubules. More recently, he described this in work with Stuart Hameroff. Frustratingly, though, in this interview he seemed to go out of his way to avoid the idea of consciousness as a phenomenon of quantum physics, saying only that his claim that consciousness is non-computational is different from claiming that it is non-deterministic - or random.

One criticism I have read of his assertions about consciousness is that it may be inappropriate to apply Gödel's theorem to the real world in the way that he's trying to do. Another criticism is that brain tissue is too soft and wet for any sort of quantum activity to be taking place there.

I had hoped to hear Penrose address these criticisms in the video, but unless I missed it due to a distraction or a wandering mind, I don't think that he did. In the end, I was somewhat disappointed by the discussion that took place in this interview on the topic of consciousness. But, the disappointment was definitely short-lived when the other topics of my article came up.

Matter, mind, and mathematics

Basically, Penrose points out that the laws of mathematics dictate how matter behaves in the universe, that our minds are constructed out of matter, and that the laws of mathematics have been described by human minds. In this view, Penrose suggests that the law of mathematics preexist our knowledge of them, and the mathematician is more discoverer than inventor. So, he suggests that it's a sort of paradox that each aspect of the triumvirate, {mathematics, matter, and mind} depends on the existence of the other.

I found more on this topic in a paper from the Institute for Advanced Study. In this paper, the authors suggest that depending on one's philosophy, the three items could be diagrammed with different dependency trees that would avoid the apparent paradox, but it's still a fascinating thought experiment.

This is, of course, related to his ideas on consciousness but it also says something about the fundamental nature of the universe. Which leads into the next topic.

Conformal cyclic cosmology (CCC)

To me, the most surprising part of the interview was when Penrose suggested that he doesn't believe that the universe began with the Big Bang. This is one of those areas where I thought the science was settled, but it turns out that there are still some remaining questions.

Penrose's problem with the Big Bang as an origin theory has to do with the second law of thermodynamics, namely that entropy (disorder) always increases. The question is, how did the universe suddenly begin with a low degree of entropy (i.e. in a highly ordered state)? Entropy has been increasing ever since the time of the Big Bang, but that doesn't explain why it was low to begin with. So, how do we explain the sudden appearance of a universe with as much order as we see in the early universe?

To explain this, Penrose relies on two fundamental theories of physics and some mathematical trickery. Einstein's theory of relativity explains that mass and energy are interchangeable (E=MC²). Similarly, Planck's Law shows how energy and frequency (of photons) are exchangeable (E=hv). By combining the two, Penrose describes a cyclical evolution of the universe where each iteration from Big Bang to its ultimate death as a cold expanse can be seen as a transition from pure, explosive energy at the time of the big bang to pure cold energy at the end. He refers to each of these iterations as "Aeons" or "Eons" depending on which source you believe.

At the end of the Aeon, Penrose performs some mathematical trickery to postulate that the infinitely large universe collapses, instantaneously, to a singularity and the next Aeon begins. If I understand his argument, it's this collapse that provides the low level of entropy that is observed in the early universe, just after the Big Bang.

Interestingly, this theory is testable by looking at the "cosmic microwave background" (CMB). Penrose proposed two methods for testing it. First, you can search for concentric rings that emerge from the violent crashes of black holes during previous Aeons; or second, you can look for Hawking Points.

Both of those tests have been carried out, but the results are inconclusive so far. Penrose and colleagues claim to have found the expected concentric rings, but other physicists have challenged the finding and the methods. Hawking points have certainly been found, but other physicists argue that they could have emerged from other causes.

For more on this, you can watch any or all of these videos:

Will the Big Bang repeat?

What Happens After the Universe Ends?

Before the big bang 2 - Conformal Cyclic Cosmology explained

Conclusion

We can see from the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics and his extensive contributions to physics that Penrose is a powerful influence in the area of astrophysics, but these are only the beginning of the intellectual contribution that he has made during the course of his lifetime.

Although controversial and unorthodox, his ideas on consciousness, cosmology, and philosophy are also thought provoking, and fascinating to explore.

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Thank you for your time and attention.

As a general rule, I up-vote comments that demonstrate "proof of reading".

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Steve Palmer is an IT professional with three decades of professional experience in data communications and information systems. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics, a master's degree in computer science, and a master's degree in information systems and technology management. He has been awarded 3 US patents.

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^{Pixabay license, source}

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