Orchestrated Objective Reduction | Stuart Hameroff | Austin DTW 2026

Stuart Hameroff ↗

Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology & Psychology · University of Arizona

Stuart Hameroff is an American anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona known for his studies of consciousness. He co-developed the Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR) theory with Nobel laureate Roger Penrose, proposing that consciousness originates from quantum states in neural microtubules. He is the Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies and lead organizer of the Science of Consciousness conference. His work spans molecular biology, neuroscience, pharmacology, philosophy, quantum information theory, and quantum gravity.

Speaking events

3

DTW editions

3

Published talks

2

University of Arizona ↗

The University of Arizona is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. It offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees through 20 colleges and schools to over 53,000 students. Research activities span disciplines including astronomy, optics, biosciences, engineering, medicine, and social sciences, with annual expenditures exceeding $687 million from federal agencies, foundations, and industry partners. The university operates facilities such as the Steward Observatory, Kitt Peak National Observatory, and Biosphere 2 for scientific research and education. It employs over 15,000 faculty and staff and serves students, researchers, and communities via academic programs, extension services, and public outreach. Classified as an R1 Doctoral University with very high research activity, it is a member of the Association of American Universities and a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Enrollment includes about 40,000 undergraduates and 13,000 graduates.

Events

3

Talks presented

2

Registrations reached

1,094

M31 Capital ↗

M31 Capital's investment thesis revolves around recognizing historical patterns of technological unlocks that drive civilizational progress and power shifts, viewing breakthroughs like blockchain, AI, and psychedelics as phase transitions that reshape societies by revealing deeper truths about reality. Drawing from the "Great Founder Theory," the firm emphasizes backing exceptional "Live Players"—visionary individuals with obsessive focus who pioneer paradigm shifts, such as Satoshi Nakamoto with Bitcoin—through a systematized "machine" that augments human judgment to detect these opportunities at an accelerating pace. Focused on infrastructure emerging from these unlocks, particularly in blockchain and crypto (e.g., DeFi and compute races), M31 prioritizes asymmetric returns by positioning capital ahead of consensus, avoiding market predictions and instead leveraging historical waves of emergence, dismissal, adoption, suppression, and triumph to invest in transformative technologies that compress innovation timelines exponentially. This approach has yielded over 1,000% five-year returns in blockchain, underscoring their unique blend of pattern recognition and operator-driven strategies in high-velocity sectors.

Events

3

Talks hosted

8

Registrations reached

574