Consciousness is treated as fundamental and characterized by other-dependence, meaning conscious processes are defined by their relations to one another. A mathematical framework using compact closed categories is introduced, where morphisms represent these co-dependent conscious processes. This compositional model naturally incorporates other-dependence and may help avoid the hard problem of consciousness while addressing the combination problem of conscious experiences.
Consciousness is treated as fundamental and characterized by other-dependence, meaning conscious processes are defined by their relations to one another. A mathematical framework using compact closed categories is introduced, where morphisms represent conscious processes composed of generators specified by their interrelations. This compositional model may help avoid the hard problem of consciousness and address the combination problem of conscious experiences.