species dependent on sexual reproduction are by definition mortal.

His first work, The Topology of Meiosis, published in 2002, had a considerable impact. It established, for the first time, on the basis of irrefutable thermodynamic arguments, that the chromosomal separation at the moment of meiosis which creates haploid gametes is in itself a source of instability. In other words, all species dependent on sexual reproduction are by definition mortal.

Houellebecq, Michel. Atomised. pag. 357. Vintage U.K., 2001.

Depressive lucidity

Depressive lucidity, usually described as a radical withdrawal from ordinary human concerns, generally manifests itself by a profound indifference to things which are genuinely of minor interest. Thus it is possible to imagine a depressed lover, while the idea of a depressed patriot seems frankly inconceivable.

Houellebecq, Michel. Atomised. pag. 270. Vintage U.K., 2001.

Individual consciousness seemed to emerge among animals for no apparent reason

[...] As he did so, he realised that around the world, researchers were trapped in a senseless empiricism. Nothing in their experimental results brought them closer to a conclusion, nor did they provide support for any particular hypothesis. Individual consciousness seemed to emerge among animals for no apparent reason, and seemed largely to predate the capacity for language. Darwinians, with instinctive determinism, put forward hypotheses about how natural selection might have benefited from the emergence of consciousness, but these in no way explained anything; they were Just So stories, no more. Then again, the anthropogenic model was hardly more convincing: life had thrown up something which could contemplate it, a mind capable of understanding it, but so what? That in itself did not make understanding consciousness any easier. Self-consciousness, which is absent in nematodes, was clearly observable in inferior lizards like Lacerata agilis, implying the presence of both a central nervous system and something more. What that something was, remained completely mysterious; consciousness dod not seem to depend on any single thing, whether anatomical, biochemical or cellular. It was all rather pressing.

Houellebecq, Michel. Atomised. pag. ?. Vintage U.K., 2001.

Griffiths Consistent Histories

'Griffiths' consistent history approach was introduced in 1984 to create coherent narratives from quantum information. A Griffiths' history is constructed from a succession of more or less random quantum measurements taken at different moments. Each measurements defines a specific physical mass at a precise moment with reference to a specific set of values. As an example, in a time t1 an electron moves at a certain point in space. At a time t2 it is situated at a certain point in space. At a time t3, it has a certain spin value. From this collection of measurements it is possible to construct a history which is logically consistent. It cannot be said to be true; simply that it can be sustained without contradiction. Under a given set of experimental conditions, a finite number of all possible histories can be recreated using Griffiths' method, these are called Griffiths Consistent Histories. In these, the world behaves as though composed of separate objects each having fixed, intrinsic proprieties. However, the number of consistent histories that can be created from a single set of data is generally greater than one. As a being you are self-aware, and this consciousness allows you to hypothesize that the story you've created from a give set of memories is a consistent history, justified by a consistent narrative voice. As a unique individual having existed for a particular period and been subjected to an ontology of objects and proprieties, you can assert this with absolute certainty and so automatically assume that it is a Griffith's history. You make this hypothesis about real life, rather than the memories of dreams.

Houellebecq, Michel. Atomised. pag. 75. Vintage U.K., 2001.