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Measuring consciousness in the lab + Science as a holistic detective agency

#1
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Max Tegmark: Measuring consciousness in the lab
http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/2592

EXCERPT: [...] Let us therefore explore the other option, known as physicalism: that consciousness is a process that can occur in certain physical systems. Instead of starting with the hard problem, we can then start with the hard fact that some quark blobs are conscious and others aren't, which leads to the fascinating question of what makes the difference. I've long contended that consciousness is the way information feels when being processed in certain complex ways, but what types of information processing quality? Specifically, what mathematical equation must an information processing system satisfy to be conscious? Answering this question might allow future ER-physicians to have a consciousness detector, and would let future programmers control whether they built consciousness into their artificial intelligence systems.

Neuroscientist Giulio Tononi has proposed just such an equation, which forms the core of his Integrated Information Theory of consciousness (IIT). It says that information being processed is conscious if a mathematical quantity called "Phi". Phi quantifies integration, the extent to which information is interconnected into a unified whole rather than split into disconnected parts. The theory has generated interest from the neuroscience community, but also controversy, including recent critique from FQXi member Scott Aaronson....



Neutrinos, antimatter, and science as a holistic detective agency
http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-...ive-agency

EXCERPT: Holistic’ is a much abused word. Like ‘quantum’ and ‘paradigm’, it is beloved of snake-oil sellers of many types. But some kind of interconnectedness forms a key part of science’s defence against spurious results and crackpots. Two new scientific results got me thinking this week

[...] The framework provided by a good theory, or collection of theories, gives focus to research and makes it harder for a new theory to gain acceptance. A maverick new theory (I get examples sent to me practically every week) must either fit with the existing picture, or replace it completely. In the latter case, it has to accommodate all the jigsaw pieces which are already snugly interlocked. This, not a conspiracy of lizards or illuminati (or even hide-bound conservatives), is why a dramatic “Einstein was wrong” type of idea is unlikely to be taken very seriously without a lot of supporting evidence, and the ability to accommodate previous evidence that he was pretty much right. In the sense that it emphasises the importance of the whole, and the interdependencies of the parts, this is a holistic view of science. In his book “More and Different”, the great theoretical physicist Philip W. Anderson describes this as a “seamless web”:

Quote:a body of firmly established theory, now extending from physics through molecular biology, which in many situations, traps dubious observations. Already known laws, like conservation of energy, quantum³ mechanics, relativity, and the laws of genetics, constrain the explanation of any given result in a fashion which can be unique, or nearly so, and makes errors easy to spot. Much of science is “overdetermined” in this sense.

It is by no means infallible (Anderson’s essay is called “When Scientists Go Astray”) but it is the best we have. Which brings me finally to what seems to me to be a borderline case....
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#2
Magical Realist Online
If they could quantify the level of synaptic interconnectivity that might be a helpful descriptor of consciousness. This would manifest in all sorts of traits---timing (temporal connectivity), modular coherence (spatial connectivity), and functional connectivity. It may even reduce down to a qualia of intercerebral discourse---of the whole synaptic storm integrating its parts into one self-organizing dialogue or narrative. Consciousness is a creator/percipient of patterns, relating previously disparate components of itself into an overriding context or relevance.
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