According to Hameroff and Penrose’s 2014 review of their ‘Orch OR’ theory, “The nature of consciousness, the mechanism by which it occurs in the brain, and its ultimate place… are unknown.” We propose that these issues are unknowable in their ultra-reductive approach. Their review completely left out the holistic view of consciousness as primary, even though it has been the most enduring view throughout history. Also, their review overlooked recent theories of an ontologically real nonlocal information field, a major step toward the holistic view. Reductive assumptions about physicalism, quantum wavefunction reduction, the mind/brain relationship, panpsychism, and the structure of the universe are reconsidered in light of the holistic view.

Orch OR theory, reductive models, quantum mind, consciousness as primary, holistic Vedic account