There are certain types of problems for which quantum computing would show superior capabilities to classical computing—for example, the cracking of encryption codes through the factoring of large numbers. However, unassisted human thinking has proven to be terrible at solving them, and cannot match even classical computers in this area, which suggests that the brain is not demonstrating any quantum computing capabilities. Moreover, even if such a phenomenon as quantum computing in the brain did exist, it would not necessarily be linked to consciousness.

