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Article 2233 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: cbarber@bbn.com (Chris Barber)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Eccles on neural quantum effects
Message-ID: <3989@papaya.bbn.com>
Date: 18 Dec 91 16:02:33 GMT
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In article <60327@netnews.upenn.edu> weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu 
        (Matthew P Wiener) writes:

|>He [Eccles] also reiterates an earlier neural quantum connection that he
|>made in his FACING REALITY, this time with experimental evidence.
|>Specifically, the synaptic unit of action is a vesicle of transmitter, of
|>diamater 40nm and mass 30ag.  The uncertainty principle lets him pin down
|>its position to about 3nm if the time spread is 1 ms, which are the correct
|>order of magnitude for action across the presynaptic membrane.

|>Eccles then refers to a study [JJB Jack, SJ Redman, K Wong JOURNAL OF
|>PHYSIOLOGY 321 pp65-96 (1981)] involving the emission of a single such
|>vescicle from a muscle afferent fibre to its motoneuron.  They found
|>that one vesicle emission was best described probabilistically.

I don't see how smallness and uncertainty of measurement lead to the
conclusion that quantum effects are being observed. Many phenomenon which
are "best described probabilistically" don't seem to be quantum effects.
I suppose rolling dice is a quantum phenomenon!

Perhaps I have missed Eccles point?



-- 
Christopher Barber
(cbarber@bbn.com)


