How Can Physics Underlie the Mind?: Top-Down Causation in the Human Context (The Frontiers Collection)

Physics underlies all complexity, including our existence: how is this possible? How can our lives emerge from interactions of electrons, protons, and neutrons? This book considers the interaction of physical and non-physical causation in complex systems such as living beings, particularly in the human brain, relating this to the emergence of higher levels of complexity with genuine causal powers. In particular, it explores the idea of top-down causation, which is the critical effect allowing the emergence of genuine complexity and enabling the causal efficacy of non-physical entities, including the value of money, social conventions, and ethical choices.