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Information and Consciousness

David Gamez

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Description:Neuroscience research often uses information measures, such as mutual information or transfer entropy, to identify the anatomical, functional and effective connections between different areas of the brain or a neural simulation (Sporns et al. 2004; Sporns 2011). Many authors have observed that integration is a key feature of conscious states (Baars 1988; Metzinger 2003), and it has been a natural progression to suggest that measures of functional and effective connectivity could be used to identify the areas of the brain that are highly integrated and thus correlated with conscious states. Tononi (2004; 2008) has gone beyond this correlation approach to claim that consciousness actually is integrated information, and proposed algorithms for identifying the areas of maximum information integration in a system (Tononi and Sporns 2003; Balduzzi and Tononi 2008).The type of information integration that is claimed to be linked to consciousness has a very specific meaning because it is not just the integration that is important, but the differentiation of the information states as well. Tononi (2004; 2008) illustrates this idea of differentiated integration using the example of a digital camera sensor with a million photodiodes. This sensor is highly differentiated because it can enter 21,000,000 different states, but in each of these states the photodiodes are acting independently and there is no integration between them. In contrast, consider a million Christmas lights connected to a single switch: when the switch is on, the lights are on; when the switch is off, the lights are off. In this system there is a high level of integration between the switch and the lights, but almost no differentiation because the system can only enter two possible states: all lights on or all lights off. In between the camera photodiodes and the Christmas lights are systems that are both differentiated and integrated: they can enter a large number of different states and these states are the result of causal interactions between the elements. According to Tononi (2004; 2008), key examples of differentiated and integrated systems are the areas associated with consciousness in the human brain.One of the key attractions of information integration theories of consciousness is that they are precise enough to be experimentally tested. For example, Tononi‟s most recent theory (Tononi 2008) can predict the areas of a system that are associated with consciousness, the amount of consciousness that is present and the qualitative character of this consciousness for each state of a system. This precision of information integration theories points the way towards a more scientific approach to consciousness, in which falsifiable predictions made by different mathematically formulated theories of consciousness can be systematically compared (see Section 4). A second advantage of information integration theories is that they can be applied to both artificial and natural systems: if a link could be established between information integration and consciousness in humans, then it would be possible to make convincing predictions about the consciousness of artificial systems as well.A major conceptual problem with information integration theories is that consciousness is a real phenomena, whereas the information states that a system holds appear to largely depend on a subjective interpretation - and it is difficult to see how something that is metaphysically real can be correlated with or identified with a subjective interpretation. To address this issue, the third section of this paper uses Floridi‟s (2009; 2010) theory of information to argue that Tononi‟s information integration theory of consciousness is more correctly interpreted as a data theory of consciousness, which has the advantage that Floridi‟s notion of data can be more easily linked to objective properties of a physical system. It is also suggested that Floridi‟s notion of information as meaningful data could be used to understand theories of consciousness that emphasize the relationship between a system and its body and environment. The last section of this paper addresses a number of philosophical and practical problems with the experimental testing of the link between data and information integration and consciousness.Etica & Politica / Ethics & Politics, XIII, 2011, 2, pp. 215-234We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Information and Consciousness. To get started finding Information and Consciousness, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
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Pages: 20

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: Imperial College, London Department of Computing

Release: 2011

ISBN

Description: Neuroscience research often uses information measures, such as mutual information or transfer entropy, to identify the anatomical, functional and effective connections between different areas of the brain or a neural simulation (Sporns et al. 2004; Sporns 2011). Many authors have observed that integration is a key feature of conscious states (Baars 1988; Metzinger 2003), and it has been a natural progression to suggest that measures of functional and effective connectivity could be used to identify the areas of the brain that are highly integrated and thus correlated with conscious states. Tononi (2004; 2008) has gone beyond this correlation approach to claim that consciousness actually is integrated information, and proposed algorithms for identifying the areas of maximum information integration in a system (Tononi and Sporns 2003; Balduzzi and Tononi 2008).The type of information integration that is claimed to be linked to consciousness has a very specific meaning because it is not just the integration that is important, but the differentiation of the information states as well. Tononi (2004; 2008) illustrates this idea of differentiated integration using the example of a digital camera sensor with a million photodiodes. This sensor is highly differentiated because it can enter 21,000,000 different states, but in each of these states the photodiodes are acting independently and there is no integration between them. In contrast, consider a million Christmas lights connected to a single switch: when the switch is on, the lights are on; when the switch is off, the lights are off. In this system there is a high level of integration between the switch and the lights, but almost no differentiation because the system can only enter two possible states: all lights on or all lights off. In between the camera photodiodes and the Christmas lights are systems that are both differentiated and integrated: they can enter a large number of different states and these states are the result of causal interactions between the elements. According to Tononi (2004; 2008), key examples of differentiated and integrated systems are the areas associated with consciousness in the human brain.One of the key attractions of information integration theories of consciousness is that they are precise enough to be experimentally tested. For example, Tononi‟s most recent theory (Tononi 2008) can predict the areas of a system that are associated with consciousness, the amount of consciousness that is present and the qualitative character of this consciousness for each state of a system. This precision of information integration theories points the way towards a more scientific approach to consciousness, in which falsifiable predictions made by different mathematically formulated theories of consciousness can be systematically compared (see Section 4). A second advantage of information integration theories is that they can be applied to both artificial and natural systems: if a link could be established between information integration and consciousness in humans, then it would be possible to make convincing predictions about the consciousness of artificial systems as well.A major conceptual problem with information integration theories is that consciousness is a real phenomena, whereas the information states that a system holds appear to largely depend on a subjective interpretation - and it is difficult to see how something that is metaphysically real can be correlated with or identified with a subjective interpretation. To address this issue, the third section of this paper uses Floridi‟s (2009; 2010) theory of information to argue that Tononi‟s information integration theory of consciousness is more correctly interpreted as a data theory of consciousness, which has the advantage that Floridi‟s notion of data can be more easily linked to objective properties of a physical system. It is also suggested that Floridi‟s notion of information as meaningful data could be used to understand theories of consciousness that emphasize the relationship between a system and its body and environment. The last section of this paper addresses a number of philosophical and practical problems with the experimental testing of the link between data and information integration and consciousness.Etica & Politica / Ethics & Politics, XIII, 2011, 2, pp. 215-234We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Information and Consciousness. To get started finding Information and Consciousness, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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Information and Consciousness

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