this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
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There's always been one piece of this that has bugged me. I'd like to hear - from someone who is familiar enough with both neurons and quantum theory - an explanation on why thoughts are physically too big to be influenced by quantum randomness.
Very back-of-envelop calculation:
The quantum scale is characterized by an action comparable to the Planck constant, hbar=6.6x10^-16^ eV s. A quick wikipedia search tells us that the typical electric impulse needs at least 25 mV (from -70 mV in the resting state to -55 mV in the threshold), and lasts around 1 ms, giving an action of 2.5x10^-5^ eV s, which is 300 billion times larger that the quantum noise.
Well, that's simultaneously both very enlightening and kind of depressing. Thanks for spreading the knowledge.