Based on the quantum model of the brain, the book explores the nature of human consciousness.
The key moment is self-awareness and self-perception, stepping into the loop: “I perceive,” “I perceive that I perceive,” “I perceive that I perceive that I perceive…” Cogito me cogitare, as the great philosopher put it. The human mind for some reason turns away now and then from the external world and concentrates all its power on itself. The human mind reinterprets itself, reworks the knowledge it already possesses. It is this trait that immeasurably increases its strength, allowing it to escape beyond the boundaries, the narrow limits of reacting to the environment, and to step out toward infinity, to the point where there are no limits. This is what allows humanity to stand proudly.
In the loop “I perceive,” “I perceive that I perceive” and so forth, there was some sort of closed circuit, a constant feedback, a back-and-forth exchange – but consisting of what and with what? Or, sometimes I would think, with a chill running down my spine, consisting of what and with whom?...
The world is not limited to our universe. Rather, it may be viewed as a four-dimensional brane (three spatial dimensions plus time) within a multidimensional metaspace, coexisting with numerous other brane-worlds. Each of these realms, including the metaspace itself, follows its own laws of physics, which may differ profoundly from ours.
This is by no means a novel concept; models of this kind have been proposed repeatedly within the framework of superstring theory. In these scenarios, fields and forces may either be restricted to their respective branes or extend throughout the entire global space – meaning that the particles mediating these fields can “travel” from one brane to another. Possible examples of such global fields include gravity, as well as the hypothetical “field of conscions” described in “The Place of Quarantine.”
The phenomenon of the brain’s so-called “dark energy” is well-known and experimentally confirmed. The book suggests that this disproportionate energy serves to sustain a special form of internal order.
Under specific boundary conditions – if the protein filaments, the means of contact between the micro and the macro, were intertwined in a certain way – the system of water dipoles would acquire a topologically nontrivial order, “packaged” into fractal structures. The “quantity” of order became large – it could be infinitely large – but in three-dimensional coordinates it remained localized in the same modest limits. The coherence propagated inward along the fractal trajectories. Thus, a small area of the brain encoded an almost unlimited amount of knowledge...
I pictured this visually: water dipoles were not just lining up in the same direction. Their vectors, like needles, formed the most complicated, highly organized figure, which flickered and trembled but remained stable for a fairly long time. I knew that this was it. The excess energy was spent precisely here – on the transition of regions of the brain into a new ordered state. Along with the usual coherence, an additional order was established and maintained in the brain during active work, reflecting the same dynamic regimes, the same memories and thoughts, but in a different way. And again, the question arose: Why did the brain need this?
According to the principles of quantum field theory, this special order should give rise to previously unknown types of quasiparticles that maintain or stabilize it.
It was natural to call this emergence of a new order “fractal symmetry breaking.” It required, first, the nontrivial initial conditions and, second, overcoming a large energy barrier. The two corresponded perfectly with the incredible complexity of the brain and the excessive energy consumption. The symmetry broke down, and then, as always when this breaking occurs, the emerged order – my fractal order – was maintained by quasiparticles of a certain kind, the joint oscillations of dipoles – that very same flickering and trembling of the highly organized figure.
These new quasiparticles possess the capacity for a novel kind of interaction – with an external field that is global relative to our universe.
Thus, the mysterious field interacting with the dipole matrix was fixed, described by mathematics. As I already knew, the interaction took place when the water dipoles of the brain were arranged in a special way. Their arrangement was “packed” into a nontrivial fractal-like figure – I named this state “fractal coherence”; it emerged and was sustained thanks to the intense work of certain neural groups. They created the initial conditions, triggering the quantum effect – fractal symmetry breaking, fractal ordering – this was exactly what the “superfluous” energy was spent on when the brain was working hard, remembering and thinking. The energy was then released in a stream of quasiparticles, quasi-Goldstone bosons – they transferred it to the external field, gaining mass and slowing down. Thus, the quasiparticles, the quanta of dipole waves supporting fractal coherence, acted as agents of a previously unknown interaction – as mediators between our brain and a new field, our world and an external multidimensional space.
Now I saw this field – in the modified right-hand side of the Lagrangian I had obtained. Assuming it was the primary cause of our intelligence, I named its quanta, the particles that permeate our world and interact with the quasiparticles of the brain, “conscions” – from the word "consciousness."
This interaction with the external field gives rise to a stable wave structure whose dynamics mirror the processes occurring in our brain. The exchange of information with this formation, called the “B Object,” is what enables the mind to perceive itself from the outside – a feedback loop that leads to self-awareness.
I leafed back through my notebook and immediately saw what I was looking for – the part of the equation I had earlier decided to omit. At the bottom of the sheet, two coupled operators, changing the behavior of the field, were frozen as if readying themselves for a great leap. For a complex transformation strangely leading to simplicity. This was a leap indeed – over the void, above the conventional, the familiar. A jump – from the interaction of fields to the compatibility of geometries. The entire system was reformulated in another way: my quasiparticles, local perturbations, produced space deformations carrying a topological charge. What had previously seemed mind-bogglingly complex now came out naturally and simply. And I saw: these deformations twisted the field of the conscions into a vortex!
In three hours, I had derived the principal solution of the modified equations – a stable wave of soliton type. I only noticed the conscion vortex for a brief moment – but that was enough to believe in it. It was a stable wave motion localized in space around the source of disturbance – the human brain. In multidimensional reality, the brain was surrounded by conscions dancing their dance around it. A highly complex dance full of meaning – encapsulating everything we think about, everything we remember...
I named the vortex the “B Object.” It was unclear where it came from – I just liked the word; it reflected the instantaneous associations flashing through my head. The associations were forgotten, but the word remained.
...
Thus, the external field influenced the brain, but the brain influenced it in turn. A vortex arose in the flow of the conscions – it emerged and then existed, “lived” in the immediate vicinity of its source. Its dynamics were constantly changing, enriching – with the memories and thoughts on which the brain was concentrating. And then the enriched vortex, the B Object, in turn interacted with the brain slightly differently – as if providing feedback. Consciousness focused in on itself or, if you like, “looked” in upon itself from the outside. This evidently was how insights, sudden comprehension, the formation of new concepts – all those things reflecting the real strength of the human mind – happened, as if being “prompted” externally. I no longer doubted that I had unraveled and mathematically described the mystery of the mind.
To summarize, the central idea is that the human brain’s enormous complexity results in a fundamentally new quality. It becomes capable of interacting with an external field – in a way that other structures, living or artificial, lacking this specific complexity, cannot. It is this very interaction that forms the basis for our consciousness.
The B Object, which resides in an external domain distinct from the brain, establishes a direct link between our mind and the fabric of spacetime. If we follow the popular notion of the "materiality" of thought, this provides a possible mechanism for that concept. Furthermore, an individual B Object is not necessarily destined to dissipate upon the physical death of the brain. It is, therefore, natural to suppose that at some point, it might actualize its internal content in another “host” – a different physical body.
The essence of this realization was revealed to me on a hot, sunny morning. I saw it on paper and sat for a long time, not taking my eyes off the formulas, as if trying to find the courage to fully believe them. The crux of the matter was simple, easily comprehensible: the math demonstrated that the B Object, once created, could then exist without the brain. Having for any reason lost and become separated from its creator, it did not dissolve, did not scatter into nothingness. It was kind of fixated on itself, maintaining in full its vortex dynamics!
...
The B Object could not be enriched without a brain but is able to live without it, keeping what it had acquired. It can survive for a long time, maybe forever – with its conscions tirelessly dancing their dance. One that reflects everything that has been received in its time from the host-brain – the entire memory, or at least the most important fragments...
...
Without fractal ordering – that is, without the active work of the brain – there are no such quasiparticles, and therefore there is no interaction. The B Object loses its energy supply and its compensating part. All its momentum becomes directed inside, toward itself, but it does not destroy it. It soon jumps into a different phase state and, not being attached to anything, moves away into space, carrying what it has accumulated. Just as a stone flies off after it’s released from a sling, our memory ‘recorded’ onto the B Object races into the distance. In anticipation of – who knows what? Perhaps, some new fateful encounter?
One might also suppose that, from the standpoint of the global space, the emergence of intelligent life – meaning the emergence and complexification of “conscion vortices” – provides some benefit. Perhaps this is what guides evolution, from the simplest cells to Homo sapiens and beyond – not only in our universe but in all possible worlds?
If so, could the perturbations introduced into the conscion field by our B Objects influence the properties of the metaspace – such as its curvature – in a way that drives these free Objects toward new physical entities capable of interacting with them and further enhancing their complexity? In other words, could the metaspace need us to find new lives, preserving our memories and accumulating experiences – and might it even be actively assisting us in this process?...
Nestor spreads his hands, “I agree with you fully. It’s difficult even to acknowledge the globality of it all, the unusualness of its scale… Our intelligence, our ability to think – or even the rudiments of such ability – elicit a reaction in the immeasurable cosmos. They force space, the mysterious metabrane, to change its geometry – admittedly, it’s more customary to talk about these matters in the context of cosmic cataclysms, the merging of stars, the formation of black holes. And here all we have is just the birth of an intelligent mind on some insignificant specks of dust… Behold the significance of a single small human being, behold – his or her role. It does not compare with your timid mention of some sort of indistinct trace. And besides, it’s such a pleasure to be aware that something is not indifferent to us. And not just something but the universe itself!”
It’s difficult to tell whether he is joking or not. I’m silent, but my lips stretch into some stupid half smile...
The “Mind and Evolution” section offers a scientific perspective on this topic.
Finally, the concluding hypothesis suggests that B Objects, once liberated from their biological hosts, are unlikely to simply disperse at random. Rather, it is advantageous for them to coalesce – if only to amplify the optimizing effect, assuming one exists. This leads to the idea of a “Cloud of B Objects,” which carries some intriguing implications.
It is difficult to tear my gaze from the screen. I look at it spellbound and then hear Nestor’s voice, measured, a little solemn, “Imagine a metabrane, and inside it a wreath of filaments, a variety of local universes. All of them are constantly changing shape – for many reasons, including the fluctuations of the metabrane’s curvature. The points that light up and go out are flashes of intelligent life – that which is capable of interacting with the field of the conscions. And the halos are the collections of the vortices of this field, the B Objects… I’m sure you’ve already guessed from my hint: yes, the Objects do not travel in space independently of each other. They don’t scurry around madly on their own or fly away in random directions. They are organized in a union, a system – this is precisely what allows our lives to ‘migrate’ en masse from one world to another. And, most important, as we’ve mentioned already: the halos and points are constantly searching for each other; they endeavor to draw closer, to intersect. In accordance with the authoritative dictates of the metabrane!”
...
The B Objects inside the Cloud ‘recognize’ each other. They ‘see’ each other, they ‘know’ a lot about each other. And they are redistributed, clustered together, depending on their internal content, on the experiences accumulated within them!
...
“Depending on their internal content...” I repeat after him. “In what terms can one define it, that content? How can it even be categorized? And, even at a cursory glance, this should entail a multitude of consequences..."
Of course, Nestor nods. The consequences are immense and staggering. The experiences of the first life affect the beginning of the second – and not just the beginning. Data from the maternity hospitals are just one example; there are others, much more sophisticated. Much less obvious – and, in general, it’s not clear when and how the interaction between the B Objects occurs. Maybe it takes place not only when the Objects are released from their bodies? Maybe their attraction-repulsion manifests itself during life – the first, the second, the others? What if this is the hidden reason for the unexpected twists and turns of our destinies?
...
He smiles weakly, "Now you may fantasize as much as you like, and no one could reproach you for lazy thinking. Any ‘wisdom’ bordering on dense prejudice now plays with new shades. How about this one: the adversities we face in our life are commensurate with our abilities? Or – if you wish for something with all your might, will it come true? What would an emissary of serious science say to this now? Here’s what he’d say: Why not? Maybe what you desire hard enough really does come true, whether in this or in the next life – through the tendency of your B Object to the corresponding reclustering provoked by your thoughts? Or is it quite the opposite: What is a desire, really – maybe the Cloud desires on your behalf? Maybe the metabrane desires on your behalf – after all, the relocation of Objects in the Cloud could also be interpreted as a change in its geometry. An infinitely small change, you might say, but who knows in what ratio the multidimensional twists are reflected in the space-time of a local universe?... So yes: maybe your desires, aspirations and so forth are only consequences of what’s happening somewhere outside – outside your body, outside your world. Moreover, maybe they are not aspirations per se but insights, some unconscious interpretations of the dynamics of the cluster to which your Object belongs? And the same can be said about our anxieties, fears..."
...
"Or here: what about the question – the eternal question over which humanity has been constantly struggling? Is there free will, are humans masters of their lives – of all the lives that await them? The human mind – do they really control it themselves? Well, maybe they do – but not quite in ways they imagine: by themselves and not by themselves, together with others, thanks to others or in spite of... It’s natural to assume that your thoughts, even if indirectly, affect your destiny. But, it turns out, it’s not just yours – have you ever felt, Theo, that you are bound hand and foot by everyone else’s expectations, illusions, wishes?"
...
"Actually," Nestor continues, "switching the question of fate to a different level of abstraction, considering it in terms of the B Objects interacting with each other, is a complete game changer. Incredible horizons are opening up; new opportunities are knocking on the door. You can try to lay a foundation under a great many things – say, under the concept of predestination, a perception of mission. Possibly somewhere inside the Object there is a concealed source of energy, a spring whose tension never lets up – now, thanks to you, we can examine it more closely. Or we can sort out in detail the influence of one life on another – that includes how our previous lives affect the next… It’s like taking a step toward a mathematical model of karma – in our world, no one laughs at the word ‘karma’ anymore..."
Here, we might entertain some interesting formulations, for instance:
- Fate as a manifestation of informational feedback loops...
- Desire as a drift toward chaotic attractors from the future...
- Karma as a conservation law operating within cognitive space...
- Consciousness as a local variation in the curvature of a hypothetical “geometry of meanings”...
And so forth. All of this, of course, currently belongs to the realm of fiction rather than the domain of science. To fiction... for now.
This constitutes an outline of the ideas behind “The Place of Quarantine.” Of course, they are presented here in highly schematic form. To fully explore them, the best approach is to read the book itself.
In my next work, “Cogito Man,” the concepts outlined above are further developed, deepened, and expanded – particularly with regard to the perception of “mission” and “destiny,” as well as free will, desires, and aspirations. The novel also examines the question of “scale”: can we claim that the vast, immeasurable cosmos is, in some manner, able to “sense” the flickers of intelligent life that arise at certain points within it? Is it too naive to suppose that intelligence – human or otherwise – plays a meaningful role in the universe’s evolution?...