A thermo-dynamical theory of consciousness

: Humans have always thought of consciousness as property possessed by a living organism, without being able to properly define it in scientific terms. Many articles have been published to explain what consciousness is. In this article, consciousness has been defined as a quantity (‘variable’ would be a better word according to mathematics), which is linked with entropy of the system. The article explains consciousness, its role in the universe, not only in living systems, but also in non-living thermo-dynamical systems. Not only that, the article also explains its role in quantum biology, a newly emerging field of biology.

environments-using quantum mechanics and thermo-dynamics. Then, we link it to biological concepts like evolution, biochemistry. In conclusion we discuss how this theory can used in further study and development in science. For background reading, please see the paper by John S. Torday and William B. Miller (19).

Basics:
Consciousness is the ability of a system to sense and respond to its surroundings. But the most important question is 'how the system shows/expresses this ability?' The answer to the question is 'by creating/forming information, which entails creating information from the constituent particles of this system'. Basically, we could conceive of consciousness by thinking about the nervous system in the human body. The brain forms the information, which starts a chain reaction, in the neurons, due to which the information transports itself from one place to another (sometimes known as message passing). Now, we know from information theory that information is measured and quantified as entropy. So, basically consciousness is the ability to form entropy/information. Now, the most basic reason that entropy is not same as consciousness is that consciousness is an intrinsic property, while entropy is an extensive property. Therefore, we must firstly define it, and then derive expressions for particular situations.

Defining consciousness:
Since, consciousness is an intrinsic property; we have to define it for a particular physical property like mass, or energy. In this article, we intend to formulate consciousness in the most fundamental form. Therefore, we define it for a particular amount of energy, as a simple mathematical ratio.
From the above paragraph, we can define consciousness as 'the change in entropy per unit energy of the given physical system, during a process'.
This can be shown mathematically as Where C is consciousness; S is entropy of the system; E is the initial amount of total energy present is the system.This shows that a body present at a relatively low energy level, which has a high change in entropy, will be more conscious than a system with the opposite condition, and vice versa.According to the above formula, the unit of consciousness is K -1 . [K is Kelvin (unit of temperature)]. However, consciousness should not be confused to be the inverse of temperature.

Statistical physics
Statistical physics is a relatively old, classical branch of physics which uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approximations, in solving physical problems.
We know the formula of Gibb's entropy (20) from classical statistical mechanics to be = − ∑ And = − ∑ Therefore, the equation of consciousness turns out to be Where, C is the consciousness of an isolated system, k b is the Boltzmann constant, p i is the probability of the system being in the microstate i, and E is the energy present in the system. Now, according to Boltzmann principle (21), in statistical physics, Where, S is the entropy of the system, k b is the Boltzmann constant, Ωis the number of microstates consistent with the given macro-states.Therefore, we can also use Boltzmann principle to obtain value of consciousness of the system. However, the above formula, obtained by Gibb's entropy is just the generalization of the principle. Therefore, we shall stick with it.

Thermodynamics
Using thermodynamics, hundreds of equations may be derived using above text for particular given states of the system and surrounding. However, in this current article, we shall not derive those equations for the sake of simplicity.

Quantum physics
Quantum physics is a highly advanced and complex branch of physics. The most basic and fundamental equation of quantum physics is the celebrated Schrödinger's equation, which holds for a single particle, i.e.
can be replaced by ̂Ѱ in the first equation to make the theory consistent with quantum physics.
By replacing E bŷѰ, we are basically defining an operator of consciousness with a set of eigenvalues just like the Hamiltonian operator. The function may be called as the consciousness operator. The operator is mathematically defined as the following: The operator can be further simplified as: Where ̂ is the consciousness operator just like ̂ is the energy (Hamiltonian) operator.
Just like thermodynamics, hundreds of equations may be derived using equations formed in earlier researches for particular scenarios like the harmonic oscillator, quantum tunneling, and many more.
Again, in this current article, we shall not derive those equations for the sake of simplicity.

Relativity
Just like above, hundreds of equations may be derived using equations formed in earlier researches and papers on relativity. Again, in this current article, we shall not derive those equations for the sake of simplicity.

Main purpose of this sub-section
The sub-section 'extending the theory' is provided in the article to show that theory can be easily used in major branches of physics as well as phenomenon, whether it be on a macroscopic or microscopic range, by using previous researches and data.

Consciousness in evolution
Now, let us discuss the role of consciousness in evolution. First, let us start from a definition of entropy, which says that 'entropy is the order of randomness of a thermo-dynamical system'. When we think of the reasons for evolution, the very first one that comes to our mind is 'variations'. We know that variations are the slow and small changes in the genetic material, which occur during the formation of gametes (in sexual reproduction), or during asexual reproduction. It is basically the mistakes done by the DNA replication enzymes, like DNA polymerase, Helicase, Ligase, Primase, Sliding clamp, Topoisomerase, SSB. These mistakes often happen, because the enzymes bind at a wrong position during replication, which causes the change in the sequence of the base pairs of the DNA, which shows the random nature. The variations are completely random and thus, are directly proportional to the entropy of the DNA, and so does to consciousness. This shows that the more the consciousness of the system, the faster it will evolve. Not only the living systems, each system in the universe does evolve, but because of having very little consciousness, it evolves, slowly. If we check the history of the universe, it is evolving itself to a higher conscious state and thus, more complex. This may be interpreted as 'the universe is self-conscious!' we know that there are usually more microstates in a living system than a nonliving system. This is why the universe is expanding, to increase the microstates and thus the entropy, at the same energy level.
Now, let us think of this at the molecular level: we know that nearly every element is present in a socalled 'living body'. But we know that the main constituents are organic molecules, made up of mostly carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. If we compare the consciousness of any process performed by two different systems, one of which is 'living' and the other is 'nonliving', at the same energy, we would find out that the living system evinces much more entropy change than a non-living in the same process, because of having more available microstates in any living system. This is because of the elements, mentioned above-they are the only elements which can make it possible for such a system. This explains why carbon is the most fertile molecule in this universe.
There are many other published articles which explain how evolution is predicted by quantum mechanics. One of them is (22) We can explain this phenomenon in terms of coordination between particles. By general knowledge, we know that particles in a 'living system' are more coordinated than a so-called nonliving one or a less conscious living system. For example, brain shows way more coordination than any other body parts. So, we can also define coordination as a quantity in terms of relation between consciousness and its time taken to change the level of consciousness.
Therefore, the definition of coordination between two particles/systems can be written as "The rate of change of consciousness with respect to time" The above definition can be mathematically written as = Where, C d is the coordination of the system (aka entropy production -a characteristic of systems that operate at nonequilibrium steady-state), C is the consciousness of the system and t is the time taken.So, basically according to this theory, every system shows consciousness and is "living", the only difference is the internal coordination of the systems.

Artificial intelligence
Information theory(23) given by Dr. Shannon had a huge role in invention and development of computers. In the theory, as described above, information transfer in computers and other devices was measured in terms of entropy. This theory of consciousness can similarly contribute to huge developments in the field of computers and especially artificial intelligence by increasing the consciousness of the devices, as artificial intelligence is basically intelligence demonstrated by machines, in contrast to the natural intelligence displayed by humans and animals.

Predictions by quantum mechanics
Since the theory can be applied at the quantum world too, it can increase the sensitivity of quantum mechanics, and may even explain Heisenberg's uncertainty principle as a result of consciousness of the observer and system.

Medications in the neurological field
We can improve the medications in neurology and psychiatry by leveraging compounds that substantively increase the consciousness of neurons, individually and as a whole in the brain.

Increase the Control and perception of the environment
One of the reasons that 'living' organisms are known to be 'special' is that they can sense/perceive and try to control their environment/surroundings by different methods. Unicellular organisms as well as advanced organisms show this ability. By increasing the consciousness in 'non-living' systems, we can expect similar results.

Law of attraction
In the New Thought philosophy, the law of attraction is the belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person's life. However, the law is not yet scientifically backed, but if true, can be explained using this theory. The theory explains consciousness in terms of entropy formed by the system/person. Every person/system while thinking always increases entropy and thus, interacts with other systems of the surrounding which forms consciousness and thoughts alter the reality.

Evolution
Evolution is usually perceived as mistakes. However, according to the theory every organism/system moves towards higher conscious state, which causes evolution. Thus, according to the theory evolution is not a mistake, but a reasonable work by nature to increase the entropy of the universe faster, by increasing the consciousness through generations/time.

Biotechnology
We can use the theory in understanding the concepts of biotechnology, biophysics and biomechanics.

Working of the brain
Brain is one of the most conscious parts of the body. With this theory, we can explain the working of the brain better. For example, a large number of neurons causes the brain to form information/entropy faster as the more number of neurons result to more microstates, and thus more consciousness.

Expected reaction time
More conscious organism will have a higher reaction time, as compared to less conscious organism. Using this, we can compare the reaction time without experimentation on the organism.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.