Read Online The Thought Readers by Dima Zales - Free Book Online Page A

quantum effects. No one doubts that some kinds of quantum processes are going on in the brain. Since everything is made of subatomic particles, quantum effects happen everywhere. This theory just postulates that brains are leveraging these effects to their benefit. Kind of like plants do. Have you heard of that?”
    “Yes, I have.” He’s talking about the quantum effects found in the process of photosynthesis. Mom—Sara—emailed me a bunch of articles about that. She’s very helpful that way—sending me articles on anything she thinks I might be interested in. Or anything she’s interested in, for that matter.
    “Photosynthesis evolved over time because some creature achieved an advantage when using a quantum effect. In an analogous way, wouldn’t a creature able to do any kind of cool quantum calculations get a huge survival advantage?” he asks.
    “It would,” I admit, fascinated.
    “Good. So the theory is that what we can do is directly related to all this—that we find ourselves in another universe when we Split, and that a quantum event in our brains somehow makes us Split.” He looks more and more like a mad scientist when he’s excited, as he clearly is now.
    “That’s a big leap,” I say doubtfully.
    “Okay, then, let me go at it from another angle. Could brains have evolved an ability to do quick quantum computations? Say in cases of dire emergencies?”
    “Yeah, I think that’s possible.” Evolution is something I know well, since Sara’s PhD thesis dealt with it. I’ve known how the whole process works since second grade.
    “Well, then let’s assume, for the sake of this theory, that the brain has learned to leverage quantum effects for some specific purpose. And that as soon as the brain does that anywhere in nature, evolution will favor it. Even if the effect is tiny. As long as there’s some advantage, the evolutionary change will spread.”
    “But that would mean many creatures, and all people, have the same ability we do,” I say. I wonder if I have someone else who doesn’t understand evolution on my hands.
    “Right, exactly. You must’ve heard that some people in deeply stressful life-or-death situations experience time as though it’s slowing down. That some even report leaving their bodies in near-death experiences.”
    “Yes, of course.”
    “Well, what if that’s what it feels like for regular people to do this quantum computation, which is meant to save their lives or at least give their brains a chance to save them? You see, the theory asserts that this does happen and that all people have this ‘near-death’ quantum computation boost. All the anecdotal reports that mention strange things happening to people in dire circumstances confirm it. So far, the theory can be tied back to natural evolution.”
    “Okay,” I say. “I think I follow thus far.”
    “Good.” Eugene looks even more excited. “Now let’s suppose that a long time ago, someone noticed this peculiarity—noticed how soldiers talk about seeing their lives pass before their eyes, or how Valkyries decide on the battlefield who lives and who dies . . . That person could’ve decided to do something really crazy, like start a cult—a cult that led to a strange eugenics program, breeding people who had longer and stronger experiences of a similar nature.” He stands, tea forgotten, and begins to pace around the room as he talks. “Maybe they put them under stress to hear their stories. Then they might’ve had the ones with the most powerful experiences reproduce. Over a number of generations, that selective breeding could’ve produced people for whom this quantum computing under stress was much more pronounced—people who began to experience new things when that overly stressed state happened. Think about it, Darren.” He stops and looks at me. “What if we’re simply a branch of that line of humanity?”
    This theory is unlike anything I expected to hear. It seems farfetched, but I