IIT’s Scientific Counter-Revolution: A Neuroscientific Theory’s Physical and Metaphysical Implications

Fallon, Francis; Blackmon, James

doi:10.3390/e23080942

Cited by 31 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…TTC does not consider, as a starting point, neuronal activity and its relationship among different regions at a definite moment in time; rather, it stresses the relevance of the temporal dynamics of neuronal activity at different points in time as an intrinsic feature of consciousness [ 21 , 23 , 43 , 44 ]. This temporal dimension can be conceived as an empirical specification of the background conditions that influence the shape of current activity in the cause-effect structure of the PSC predicted by IIT [ 32 , 45 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Shorter to Longer Timescales: Converging Integrated Information Theory (IIT) with the Temporo-Spatial Theory of Consciousness (TTC)

Northoff

Zilio

2022

Entropy

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Time is a key element of consciousness as it includes multiple timescales from shorter to longer ones. This is reflected in our experience of various short-term phenomenal contents at discrete points in time as part of an ongoing, more continuous, and long-term ‘stream of consciousness.’ Can Integrated Information Theory (IIT) account for this multitude of timescales of consciousness? According to the theory, the relevant spatiotemporal scale for consciousness is the one in which the system reaches the maximum cause-effect power; IIT currently predicts that experience occurs on the order of short timescales, namely, between 100 and 300 ms (theta and alpha frequency range). This can well account for the integration of single inputs into a particular phenomenal content. However, such short timescales leave open the temporal relation of specific phenomenal contents to others during the course of the ongoing time, that is, the stream of consciousness. For that purpose, we converge the IIT with the Temporo-spatial Theory of Consciousness (TTC), which, assuming a multitude of different timescales, can take into view the temporal integration of specific phenomenal contents with other phenomenal contents over time. On the neuronal side, this is detailed by considering those neuronal mechanisms driving the non-additive interaction of pre-stimulus activity with the input resulting in stimulus-related activity. Due to their non-additive interaction, the single input is not only integrated with others in the short-term timescales of 100–300 ms (alpha and theta frequencies) (as predicted by IIT) but, at the same time, also virtually expanded in its temporal (and spatial) features; this is related to the longer timescales (delta and slower frequencies) that are carried over from pre-stimulus to stimulus-related activity. Such a non-additive pre-stimulus-input interaction amounts to temporo-spatial expansion as a key mechanism of TTC for the constitution of phenomenal contents including their embedding or nesting within the ongoing temporal dynamic, i.e., the stream of consciousness. In conclusion, we propose converging the short-term integration of inputs postulated in IIT (100–300 ms as in the alpha and theta frequency range) with the longer timescales (in delta and slower frequencies) of temporo-spatial expansion in TTC.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Shorter to Longer Timescales: Converging Integrated Information Theory (IIT) with the Temporo-Spatial Theory of Consciousness (TTC)

Northoff

Zilio

2022

Entropy

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“…IIT is especially interesting because it aims to explain the phenomenal, subjective character of experience; not its behavioural, computational or functional correlates [5]. However, the consistency of the theory has been critically addressed on several occasions [6][7][8][9][10]. Here, we focus specifically on a metaphysical aspect of the theory's most recent version (IIT 4.0) [11][12][13][14], what we may call its idealistic ontology, and its tension with a kind of realism about the external world that IIT also endorses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Fundamental Tension in Integrated Information Theory 4.0’s Realist Idealism

Cea,

Negro,

Signorelli

2023

Entropy

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Integrated Information Theory (IIT) is currently one of the most influential scientific theories of consciousness. Here, we focus specifically on a metaphysical aspect of the theory’s most recent version (IIT 4.0), what we may call its idealistic ontology, and its tension with a kind of realism about the external world that IIT also endorses. IIT 4.0 openly rejects the mainstream view that consciousness is generated by the brain, positing instead that consciousness is ontologically primary while the physical domain is just “operational”. However, this philosophical position is presently underdeveloped and is not rigorously formulated in IIT, potentially leading to many misinterpretations and undermining its overall explanatory power. In the present paper we aim to address this issue. We argue that IIT’s idealistic ontology should be understood as a specific combination of phenomenal primitivism, reductionism regarding Φ-structures and complexes, and eliminativism about non-conscious physical entities. Having clarified this, we then focus on the problematic tension between IIT’s idealistic ontology and its simultaneous endorsement of realism, according to which there is some kind of external reality independent of our minds. After refuting three potential solutions to this theoretical tension, we propose the most plausible alternative: understanding IIT’s realism as an assertion of the existence of other experiences beyond one’s own, what we call a non-solipsistic idealist realism. We end with concluding remarks and future research avenues.

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“…It is not my intent, here, to explore the relation between the epistemology of IIT and its metaphysical assumptions and implications (for a discussion, see(Fallon and Blackmon 2021)). I do not intend to suggest that pandispositionalism is uncontroversial either.…”

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confidence: 99%

Can the Integrated Information Theory Explain Consciousness from Consciousness Itself?

Negro

2022

Rev.Phil.Psych.

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In consciousness science, theories often differ not only in the account of consciousness they arrive at, but also with respect to how they understand their starting point. Some approaches begin with experimentally gathered data, whereas others begin with phenomenologically gathered data. In this paper, I analyse how the most influential phenomenology-first approach, namely the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of consciousness, fits its phenomenologically gathered data with explanatory hypotheses. First, I show that experimentally driven approaches hit an explanatory roadblock, since we cannot tell, at the present stage, which model of consciousness is best. Then, I show that IIT’s phenomenology-first approach implies a self-evidencing explanation according to which consciousness can be explained by starting from consciousness itself. I claim that IIT can take advantage of the virtuous circularity of this reasoning, but it also faces a data-fitting issue that is somehow similar to that faced by experiment-driven approaches: we are not given enough information to decide whether the explanatory hypotheses IIT employs to explain its phenomenological data are in fact best. I call this problem “the self-evidencing problem” for IIT, and after introducing it, I propose a possible way for IIT to solve it.

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IIT’s Scientific Counter-Revolution: A Neuroscientific Theory’s Physical and Metaphysical Implications

Cited by 31 publications

References 21 publications

From Shorter to Longer Timescales: Converging Integrated Information Theory (IIT) with the Temporo-Spatial Theory of Consciousness (TTC)

From Shorter to Longer Timescales: Converging Integrated Information Theory (IIT) with the Temporo-Spatial Theory of Consciousness (TTC)

The Fundamental Tension in Integrated Information Theory 4.0’s Realist Idealism

Can the Integrated Information Theory Explain Consciousness from Consciousness Itself?

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