My responses will be posted in reverse order. I thought I'd wait a bit for your reply before clarifying my point on virtual photons, but I think it's useful to clear it up anyway.
Virtual photons are just the QED (Quantum Electrodynamics) term for the mediators of the electro-magnetic field. They are the things that allow ions to be attracted to each other.
The reason I connect this to consciousness is because the way neurons fire is basically by exposing ions to each other. Positive and negative ions are attracted to each other by the natural laws. Neurons in the brain use this natural phenomena to craft long chains of reactions between each other in a way that creates our conscious experiences.
Essentially what I'm saying is that the thing that creates consciousness is the attraction that happens between the ions.
In QED, the attractions between ions is caused by virtual photons.
Virtual photons are just the QED (Quantum Electrodynamics) term for the mediators of the electro-magnetic field. They are the things that allow ions to be attracted to each other.
The reason I connect this to consciousness is because the way neurons fire is basically by exposing ions to each other. Positive and negative ions are attracted to each other by the natural laws. Neurons in the brain use this natural phenomena to craft long chains of reactions between each other in a way that creates our conscious experiences.
Essentially what I'm saying is that the thing that creates consciousness is the attraction that happens between the ions.
In QED, the attractions between ions is caused by virtual photons.