And as Feynmann purportedly said "if you think you understand quantum mechanics, then you don't." - QM, and thus the very nature of reality, is also a mystery. We know how to use QM to describe reality with astonishing precision- but what it means regarding the fundamental nature of reality is a mystery...

My quarrel is with that particular 'physicist' and his wild unsupportable claim. Simply saying "A is a mystery, and B is a mystery, therefore A and B are fundamentally linked and one can explain the other" is not a scientific argument- and no amount of 'sciencey' sounding terminology like 'quantum information' makes it valid.

Could consciousness have its foundation in some as-yet unknown implication of QM? Absolutely, and that is certainly a valid subject of investigation... personally, I think it is probable the two ARE linked (although NOT likely in anything like the way implied in the article) but that is only my opinion and is equally unscientific- likely arising out of my optimistic notion that such a link would leave room for free-will... however, even that optimistic notion- that quantum mechanics provides a way to avoid accepting that the future is pre-determined, allowing for free will- is likely also misguided... In fact in many cosmological models it is hopelessly naive.

(I highly recommend 'our mathematical universe' by Max Tegmark if this topic interests you)

There is good reason to believe that asking the question 'is the future pre-determined?' completely misses the point- it may very well be ALL possible future realities WILL happen and are all EQUALLY REAL.

One thing we know for certain is that we really do not know the true fundamental nature of reality- we know a lot of the rules it operates by, and we are learning enough to know there are very deep questions that are suggested by the rules... but we do not even know if the rules allow for those questions to ever be answered.