CH 39: Computation of Consciousness
With so much recent progress in science and philosophy, one theory that has had some synergy with both areas is a framework for consciousness. It is easy to look at a person sitting next to you and say they are conscious. But what about the consciousness of your pet dog or some bee sitting on a flower, or even some non-organic A.I. like Wolfram Alpha? Do these have consciousness as well, and if they do, can we then assign relative levels of consciousness? There is a theory, not proven, but worth considering, that puts consciousness in terms of information. Whether it is the streams of zeroes and ones that make up the digital world or the thoughts that emerge in your brain as you read these words, there is in both the aspect of information creation. This theory is called the Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness or ITT. It postulates that the amount of integrated information that an entity possesses corresponds to its level of consciousness.
Using the language of mathematics, we can take a particular brain, consider its neurons and axons, dendrites and synapses, and then, in principle, accurately compute the extent to which this brain is integrated. From this calculation, the theory derives a single number, Φ (pronounced “fi”). The more integrated the system is, the more synergy it has, the more conscious it is. A consequence of this theory is that so many systems are sufficiently integrated and differentiated, thereby guaranteeing at least a minimal consciousness. This gives a consciousness value to that bee, but also insects, fish and any other organism that contains a brain. This theory also does not discriminate between organic brains, like those found in a skull of a human, and the transistors, memory units and CPUs that comprise modern Personal Computers. While obviously you are not going to consider your iPad as being conscious in any traditional sense, it also does not have a null value for Φ according to the ITT.
I think, therefore I am?