Roger Penrose: Gödel, the Mind, and the Laws of Physics

Abstract

Gödel appears to have believed strongly that the human mind can find no explanation in terms of computational physics, but he remained cautious in formulating this belief as a rigorous consequence of his incompleteness theorems. I shall try to present the case that a modification of the standard arguments provides a persuasive case in support of Gödel's standpoint. Gödel also appears not to have considered the possibility that the laws of physics might themselves involve non-computational procedures. Accordingly, he found himself driven to the conclusion that mentality must lie beyond the actions of the physical brain. I shall try to argue how and why this need not be the case.