  Inspired by the extraordinary computing power promised by quantum computers,
the quantum mind hypothesis postulated that quantum mechanical phenomena are
the source of neuronal synchronization, which, in turn, might underlie
consciousness. Here, I present an alternative inspired by a classical computing
method with quantum power. This method relies on special distributed
representations called hyperstrings. Hyperstrings are superpositions of up to
an exponential number of strings, which -- by a single-processor classical
computer -- can be evaluated in a transparallel fashion, that is,
simultaneously as if only one string were concerned. Building on a neurally
plausible model of human visual perceptual organization, in which hyperstrings
are formal counterparts of transient neural assemblies, I postulate that
synchronization in such assemblies is a manifestation of transparallel
information processing. This accounts for the high combinatorial capacity and
speed of human visual perceptual organization and strengthens ideas that
self-organizing cognitive architecture bridges the gap between neurons and
consciousness.
