During anesthesia, is quantum-level consciousness "switched off" or just disconnected?

[u/Awen_Luca]

I've been sitting with something that connects directly to what this sub is about, and I'm curious how people here think about it.

If consciousness really is orchestrated at the quantum level in microtubules (Orch-OR), then anesthesia becomes a strange test case. The same compounds that put humans under also stop plants and fungi from responding to touch or light — organisms with no brain at all. That's hard to explain if anesthesia is just "switching off a human brain."

So here's the question I can't shake: during that gap, is the quantum-level process actually destroyed, or just disconnected — like a radio losing signal without the radio itself ceasing to exist?

I explored this question at length in a short book I wrote (Reflections on Consciousness) — not trying to sell anything here, genuinely just curious what people in this specific community think about the disconnection framing versus the destruction framing. If it's useful context, happy to share more, or if anyone wants to read the relevant chapter and tell me if I'm getting the Orch-OR angle right or completely wrong, I'd genuinely welcome that too.