Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia; Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.
Post 126. August 16, 2022
Is Consciousness Everywhere?
What is it like to be a Bee?
Prominent neuroscientist, Kristof Koch, has become an advocate for the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of Giulio Tononi. They now work together to fill any gaps in the theory that consciousness emerges naturally when information processing systems reach a minimal state of integration (wholeness). Tononi measures the degree of unification in units of phi (Φ a greek symbol of unity). How he measures some-thing like consciousness, from electrical activity, is beyond me, but the general theory seems to make sense.
Koch defines "consciousness" as subjective experience¹, and the title of his book is The Feeling of Life Itself. Presumably, everything that is animated is also sentient to some degree. And he gives several examples, from bees, to octopi, ravens, & crows. But he exempts all non-living things (e.g. atoms) from the consciousness club. Otherwise, the theory sounds a lot like ancient Panpsychism². He even speculates that a mammal-like neural network is not required. Hence, it's possible that trees communicate with each other through chemicals in their rambling root systems.
Although, he feels free to indulge in philosophical deduction & speculation where appropriate, Koch says : "IIT offers a different chain of reasoning. The theory precisely answers the question of who can have an experience: anything with a non-zero maximum of integrated information; anything that has intrinsic causal powers is considered a Whole. What this Whole feels, its experience, is given by its maximally irreducible cause-effect structure. How much it exists is given by its integrated information." So, IIT is essentially an attempt to quantify the qualia of sentient awareness.
IIT implies that any sufficiently complex system with feedback links (self-reflection) can become conscious, because " it forms a maximally irreducible cause-effect structure"³. And that requires some kind of "intrinsic cause-effect power". Which agrees with my own thesis that "Information" itself is a form of causal energy⁴. But something has to organize and direct that energy to cause actions that are in the interest of the self-aware organism. Therefore, internal motivation⁵ is the key to moral agency. Moreover, “Intrinsic causal power does away with the challenge of how mind emerges from matter. IIT stipulates that it is there all along”.
However, to emphasize that IIT does not rely on magic, he asserts that : "the mental does not appear abruptly out of the physical" He goes on to say that "Intrinsic causal power does away with the challenge of how mind emerges from matter. IIT stipulates that it is there all along". Presumably, the potential for Mind is inherent in the physical world, yet can only emerge under certain conditions. And ITT proposes to empirically establish what those conditions are. Finding the physical evidence to support the hypothesis is the ongoing project for both Koch and Tononi.
Blog Post 126 continued . . . .
1. Subjective experience : This what philosopher Thomas Nagel was referring to in his rhetorical question : “what is it like to be a bat?” What does it “feel like” to depend on sonar, instead of vision or smell, to find your food? By definition, subjective feelings are not subject to empirical proving. So, we’ll never know for sure; but as rational beings, we can make reasonable guesses. And as imaginative beings, we can hypothetically put ourselves in their ecological niche.
2. Panpsychism : Literally, “mind everywhere”. It’s the belief that everything in the world is “enminded”. That’s one reason some New Agers act as-if crystals can focus or attract mental energy. IIT does relate causal Consciousness to Energy. Yet not in a literal sense. Mind is analogous to (like) energy in the sense that it can affect the physical world. But, not in the spooky mind-over-matter methods of magic. Instead, it works via normal natural pathways. Also, conscious causation is not random, but directed by intention.
3. Cause-Effect Structure: In IIT, it’s not a physical structure, but a meta-physical conceptual con-struct of logical links.
5. Intention : A moral agent is internally motivated to do whatever is in his own interest. But good intentions sometimes go awry. Moral codes are devised to remind us that we are integral parts of a social system. So, we are advised to treat other moral agents as-if the integrity of the system depends on each of us.
“precisely because of the looming confrontation between natural, evolved and artificial, engineered intelligence, it is absolutely essential to assert the central role of feeling to a lived life.”
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