Touching Consciousness

The more religious inclined will surely disagree, but let’s postulate a scientific axiom: If it cannot be observed, it cannot be.

For centuries this was the trouble with one of the most puzzling of phenomena: consciousness. We could not define it, we could not determine its manifestations, and yet, if we were to deny its existence our sense of self would come crashing down.

To put it another way: without consciousness we couldn’t consciously deny consciousness.

Notice the past tense in the second paragraph? It’s there because neuroscientist Giulio Tononi of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has done something remarkable: he has advanced a working theory of consciousness. Falsifiable and observable.

Tononi calls it the Integrated Information Theory (ITT) and it basically states that consciousness in any system is a function of two properties:

- The amount of differentiated information in that system.
- The level of integration of this information through causal connections.

If his theory holds (far from sure at this point) it means that consciousness can emerge in any system complex and interconnected enough. So be careful how you treat your robot vaccuum cleaner!

You can read a more in depth article here.

The Cyborg