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To be or to know? Information in the pristine present.
1Department of Psychiatry, Center for Sleep and Consciousness, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI53719, USA. albantakis@wisc.eduhttps://centerforsleepandconsciousness.psychiatry.wisc.edu/people/larissa-albantakis/.
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|March 23, 2022
Summary
Integrated Information Theory (IIT) axioms are fundamental properties of experience, not requiring "access." Information quantifies experience specificity via cause-effect structures and integrated information.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Mind
- Cognitive Science
- Theoretical Neuroscience
Background:
- Integrated Information Theory (IIT) proposes axioms as fundamental properties of experience.
- These axioms should be interpreted as basic, not requiring complex psychological constructs like 'access.'
Purpose of the Study:
- To clarify the foundational axioms of Integrated Information Theory (IIT).
- To emphasize the intrinsic nature of information in experience, independent of accessibility.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of IIT axioms.
- Distinguishing between information as specificity and information requiring access.
Main Results:
- IIT axioms are basic properties inherent to any experience.
- Information is defined as the specificity of experience, not requiring "access."
- A system's information is its unfolded cause-effect structure.
Conclusions:
- The axioms of Integrated Information Theory (IIT) are foundational and should not be over-psychologized.
- Information, as defined by IIT, pertains to the specificity of experience and is quantified by integrated information derived from cause-effect structures.
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