  Since its inception, many physicists have seen in quantum mechanics the
possibility, if not the necessity, of bringing cognitive aspects into the play,
which were instead absent, or unnoticed, in the previous classical theories. In
this article, we outline the path that led us to support the hypothesis that
our physical reality is fundamentally conceptual-like and cognitivistic-like.
However, contrary to the 'abstract ego hypothesis' introduced by John von
Neumann and further explored, in more recent times, by Henry Stapp, our
approach does not rely on the measurement problem as expressing a possible 'gap
in physical causation', which would point to a reality lying beyond the
mind-matter distinction. On the contrary, in our approach the measurement
problem is considered to be essentially solved, at least for what concerns the
origin of quantum probabilities, which we have reasons to believe they would be
epistemic. Our conclusion that conceptuality and cognition would be an integral
part of all physical processes comes instead from the observation of the
striking similarities between the non-spatial behavior of the quantum
micro-physical entities and that of the human concepts. This gave birth to a
new interpretation of quantum mechanics, called the 'conceptualistic
interpretation', currently under investigation within our group in Brussels.
