arXiv Preprint Archive
May 12, 2024
Eduardo C. Garrido-Merchán
The idea that machines could become conscious has been widely discussed in artificial intelligence and transhumanist literature, often based on the assumption that sufficient computational complexity might produce phenomenal consciousness. However, this paper argues that such literature lacks scientific rigor because the hypothesis that machines are not conscious cannot be falsified. The authors provide a list of arguments showing that every approach in machine consciousness research relies on philosophical assumptions unprovable by the scientific method. They specifically demonstrate that phenomenal consciousness is not computable, regardless of algorithmic complexity, cannot be objectively measured or quantitatively defined, and is inherently subjective and internal to the observer. The work concludes that the notion of conscious machines is currently a myth of transhumanism and science fiction culture.
arXiv Preprint Archive
May 2, 2024
Xerxes D. Arsiwalla
The phenomenal content of conscious experience—what it feels like to have an experience—is constituted by subjectively attributed meaning, which is intrinsic and non-representational. This subjective meaning is ubiquitous in conscious experiences and is related to Frege's "sense" and Peirce's "interpretant." The authors extend Frege's sense to raw feels of consciousness and argue that both sense and reference play roles in phenomenal experience. They formalize subjective meaning as a relational attribute realized by a map interpreting syntactic structures of a formal system within a semantic space. The image of this map in the mental domain comprises the phenomenal content of qualia, with implications for experience-based theories of consciousness.
arXiv Preprint Archive
April 17, 2024
Ranjan Mukhopadhyay
The mind-body problem is approached as two interconnected issues: how subjective conscious experience arises from physical brain processes and how conscious mental states can causally influence the physical world. A non-physicalist framework is developed that combines a materialist view of the mind as a brain product with a metaphysical view of consciousness rooted in an underlying hidden reality. This framework resolves the problem of mental causation while remaining consistent with fundamental physical principles. Meaning acts as a bridge between neurological processes and the conscious mind. Awareness of the self and representation of the external world are connected to this perspective.
arXiv Preprint Archive
March 29, 2024
K. Evers, M. Farisco, R. Chatila et al.
A composite, multilevel, and multidimensional model of consciousness is proposed as a heuristic framework to guide artificial consciousness research. The model treats consciousness as a complex phenomenon with distinct constituents and dimensions that can be operationalized for study and replication. It avoids binary thinking (conscious vs. non-conscious) and offers a structured basis for testable hypotheses. Using 'awareness' as a case study, the paper demonstrates how specific dimensions can be pragmatically analyzed and targeted for artificial instantiation. This approach aims to advance the scientific and technical understanding of artificial consciousness by breaking down conceptual intricacies and aligning them with practical research goals.
arXiv Preprint Archive
March 6, 2024
Johannes Kleiner
Computational functionalism holds that consciousness is a form of computation. This paper demonstrates that consciousness cannot be a Turing computation, but instead aligns with a type of computation proposed by Geoffrey Hinton called mortal computation.
arXiv Preprint Archive
February 21, 2024
Jingjin Li, Jiajing Guo, Gilly Leshed
Live-streamed meditation offers weaker social presence than in-person sessions but helps attendees build a consistent practice routine and connect with other meditators. Teachers use live streams to deliver meditation globally, which also enhances their own practice and brand building. Challenges with live-stream tools were identified from both audience and teacher perspectives, leading to design recommendations to better support mental wellbeing through live meditation.
arXiv Preprint Archive
February 6, 2024
Raoni Arroyo, Lauro de Matos Nunes Filho, Frederik Moreira dos Santos
The paper argues that the interpretation of quantum mechanics which assigns a causal role to human consciousness in measurement (the "consciousness causes collapse" interpretation) is traditionally tied to substance dualism and therefore inherits the mind-body problem. The authors propose that adopting a process-based metaphysical approach, inspired by Alfred North Whitehead's solution to the mind-body problem, offers a more coherent understanding of consciousness and its role in quantum mechanics. This article serves as the launch of a research program in the metaphysics of science to develop that approach.
arXiv Preprint Archive
February 5, 2024
Martin Schmalzried
This paper argues that embodied artificial general intelligence (AGI) could represent a different form of consciousness with a larger computational boundary than humans. Drawing on embodied cognition, Michael Levin's concept of a 'Self,' and Donald D. Hoffman's Interface Theory of Perception, it suggests that human perceived outer reality is a symbolic representation of alternate inner states. The paper discusses the architecture needed for embodied AGI, how to calibrate its symbolic interface, and the role of the Metaverse, decentralized systems, and open-source blockchain technology. It concludes that harmony in human relations and global interconnectedness are key prerequisites for stable embodied AGI.
arXiv Preprint Archive
February 4, 2024
Rodolfo Gambini, Jorge Pullin
A phenomenological analysis of consciousness, similar to Husserl's, reveals that phenomenal qualities shape perception and also influence how physical and mathematical sciences operate, enabling accurate descriptions of observed regularities through communicable mathematical laws. These laws describe behaviors, not intrinsic features of things. Classical mechanistic determinism leaves no room for novelty or intrinsic aspects, but quantum probabilistic determinism, with its ontology of objects, systems in states, and events, offers a different framework. An ontology of events with internal phenomenal aspects, known as panprotopsychism, better explains consciousness. Many objections to panpsychism, the combination problem, stem from classical physics assumptions about supervenience that are inappropriate at the quantum level, where exponential emergent properties arise. This analysis imposes conditions on possible quantum cognition mechanisms in the brain.
arXiv Preprint Archive
January 23, 2024
He Zhang, John M. Carroll
Drawing on Don Ihde's theory of instrumental realism, this paper examines virtual reality (VR) as a tool for phenomenological inquiry. It reviews how VR technology has prompted a technological revolution and is used to study subjective experience, perception, embodiment, empathy, perspective-taking, and altered states of consciousness. The paper argues that VR expands human perception and cognition, serving as an instrumental technology that opens new avenues for scientific investigation and transforms understanding of the world. By reflecting on the work of Husserl and Ihde, it revisits VR's potential to reshape how we experience and know reality.
arXiv Preprint Archive
January 8, 2024
Kazem Haghnejad Azar
Conscious experience cannot be neatly encapsulated within a singular collection, as it emerges from the developmental and augmentative trajectory of the cognitive system. As cognitive abilities undergo refinement and advancement, the capacity for logical thinking evolves, manifesting a heightened level of conscious experience. The article explores the concept of logical experience and the intricate process by which these experiences are derived from the mind.
arXiv Preprint Archive
January 2, 2024
Mark J. Hadley
A model of consciousness is presented that addresses the hard problem of what it feels like. The model builds on medical research on the source and mechanisms of feelings, describing a generic framework applicable to humans, animals, and AI. It is fully consistent with medical pathways in humans and centers on the interplay between associative memory and physiology. The model is offered as a clear counterexample to philosophical objections against a scientific explanation of consciousness.
arXiv Preprint Archive
December 10, 2023
E. E. Vityaev
The paper develops a non-reductionist information theory of consciousness based on D.I. Dubrovsky's informational approach to the mind-brain problem. It treats reality through the lens of information about observed phenomena, where subjective experiences are themselves information about brain processes. The central principle is that the brain discovers all possible causal relations in the external world and makes all possible inferences from them. The resulting theory is shown to rest on information laws of the external world's structure, explain brain functional systems and cellular ensembles, maximize prediction accuracy and anticipation of reality, resolve contradictions, and serve as an information theory of the brain's reflection of reality.
arXiv Preprint Archive
October 31, 2023
Thomas F. Varley, Daniel Havert, Leandro Fosque et al.
The psychedelic DPT reversibly alters how information is processed in rat cortical tissue. Spontaneous neural firing became more random (higher entropy), and individual neurons stored information for shorter periods. Neural activity became less reversible, pushing the system away from equilibrium. Circuit structure shifted: overall information flow into each neuron decreased, but weak connections increased, blending integration and disintegration. Higher-order statistical synergy among groups of three neurons also dropped. These meso-scale effects offer a more detailed view of psychedelic action than whole-brain imaging provides.
arXiv Preprint Archive
October 14, 2023
Brendan Conway-Smith, Robert L. West
The paper examines how a metacognitive threshold—the minimum stimulus required for a mental state to become conscious—can be modeled computationally. It discusses cognitive mechanisms that may allow this threshold to be lowered through metacognitive training and meditation practices, suggesting that such interventions could enhance awareness of subtle mental events.
arXiv Preprint Archive
September 27, 2023
John Sanfey
The relationship between subjective experience and physical reality remains unresolved. Most theories treat consciousness as epiphenomenal, lacking causal power, except Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which identifies consciousness with a specific physical information structure having intrinsic causal power. However, any psycho-physical identity theory leads to panpsychism, undermining claims to fundamentality. IIT's recent turn to strong causal emergence requires a new physical law or principle. This paper presents a deductive argument from phenomenologically certain premises, proving that conscious experience creates additional degrees of causal freedom independent of experience content, unpredictable and unobservable by sequential means. This provides a fundamental principle bridging consciousness and physics, with testable predictions about brain function differing from IIT.
arXiv Preprint Archive
September 25, 2023
Kelvin J. McQueen, Ian T. Durham, Markus P. Mueller
A quantum superposition of consciousness, as in Wigner's friend thought experiment, may be possible under integrated information theory (IIT). IIT treats consciousness as a measurable quantity, integrated information (Φ), so a system's consciousness equals its Φ. Using the latest IIT formalism (IIT4.0), the authors analyze the simplest nonzero-Φ system, a feedback dyad, and propose a circuit putting it into a superposition of states. This would correspond to a superposition of conscious states, called "Schrödinger's dyad." Either IIT is false or the dyad is conscious and easily superposed. The simplest consciousness-collapse model predicts this superposition is unstable, collapsing at a rate determined by differences between the superposed conscious states.
arXiv Preprint Archive
September 13, 2023
Sanjana Mendu, Sebrina L. Doyle Fosco, Stephanie T. Lanza et al.
Trained mindfulness facilitators supported the use of a voice interface to help people with chronic pain practice Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at home, especially those with limited motor function. Facilitators noted that voice interfaces offer unique benefits, such as a sense of social presence, which may encourage continued engagement. The study identifies design recommendations for technologies that aim to provide long-term support for mindfulness-based interventions, highlighting the potential of voice technology as a non-addictive pain management tool.
arXiv Preprint Archive
August 30, 2023
Igor Ševo
Evaluating artificial systems for signs of consciousness is increasingly pressing, and a rigorous psychometric measurement framework may be crucial for assessing large language models. Most prominent theories of consciousness argue for different kinds of information coupling as necessary for human-like consciousness. By comparing information coupling in human and animal brains, cognitive development, emergent abilities, and mental representation development to analogous phenomena in large language models, the author argues that psychometric measures of intelligence, such as the g-factor or IQ, indirectly approximate the extent of conscious experience. Based on scientific and metaphysical theories, all systems possess a degree of consciousness ascertainable psychometrically, and psychometric measures may gauge relative similarities of conscious experiences across artificial and human systems.
arXiv Preprint Archive
August 24, 2023
Koonlin Eunice Chan, Joy Bose
A pilot study compared a beginner meditation group (21 participants) with an experienced group (9 participants, >1 year of practice) that also engaged in mindful art. Over 21 days, with twice-weekly 90-minute remote sessions and daily home practice, blood pressure, pulse, breathing rate, and subjective relaxation were measured. The experienced group showed larger average within-session improvements in breath rate and relaxation. The beginner group showed greater improvement over the whole study period, though their average scores remained lower than the experienced group. The findings suggest mindful art may enhance meditation benefits for experienced practitioners, while beginners gain more from standard meditation alone.
arXiv Preprint Archive
August 21, 2023
Andrew Bell
A theory proposes that feedback cooling in the brain switches on consciousness by reducing thermal noise enough for macroscale quantum phenomena—Bose-Einstein condensation and long-range coherence—to operate at body temperature. It suggests that neuronal arrays called cortical minicolumns act like quantum accelerators; when feedback cooling from thalamocortical loops activates them, a Bose-Einstein condensate forms, enabling quantum computation and consciousness. When cooling is idle, as in sleep, the brain operates unconsciously. The model explains how quantum effects can occur in a warm, noisy brain, why consciousness evolved, and clarifies states like sleepwalking. It predicts that cold states in the brain are detectable by magnetic resonance thermometry.
arXiv Preprint Archive
June 26, 2023
Danko D. Georgiev
Natural selection requires conscious experiences to have causal effects on the physical world, but classical physics theories of the mind lead to causally impotent consciousness, contradicting evolution. This paper derives theorems showing that the impasse arises from mathematical properties of ordinary differential equations used to model the brain's functional production of the mind. The authors demonstrate that quantum physics resolves this by reductively identifying the unobservable conscious mind with the quantum state of the brain, while the observable brain results from measuring quantum brain observables. The resulting quantum stochastic dynamics, governed by stochastic differential equations, allow genuine free will through sequential conscious choices. Quantum reductionism thus provides a theoretical foundation for causal potency of consciousness, free will, and cultural transmission.
arXiv Preprint Archive
June 5, 2023
Dozie Iwuh
Quantum Brain Dynamics (QBD) focuses specifically on consciousness and memory, unlike other brain functions that can be analyzed with classical mechanics. The quantum interpretation of the brain (QIB) traces its inspiration to Erwin Schrödinger's 1944 book "What is Life," which describes how living organisms avoid decay to equilibrium through negentropy—maintaining ordered macroscopic states in a disordered environment. This life-sustaining interaction is microscopic and quantum, involving quantum entanglement and superposition of quantum states. The quantum interpretation of the brain is presented as a nascent but necessary tool for better understanding the brain.
arXiv Preprint Archive
May 31, 2023
Yoshiyuki Ohmura, Wataru Shimaya, Yasuo Kuniyoshi
The mind-brain problem asks how mental events relate to neural events. Mathematical models have tried to explain how the brain represents the discriminative structure of qualia (subjective experiences), but lack validation. In unsupervised learning, independence between axes in a latent space cannot distinguish between different qualia types (e.g., vision vs. touch) and different instances within the same type (e.g., green vs. red). The authors hypothesize that weakening inter-axis independence is necessary to discriminate qualia types. They formulate an algebraic independence linked to other-qualia-type invariant transformations, where the transformation value is a vector space. A brain model learning this algebraic independence separates the latent space into multiple metric spaces corresponding to qualia types, suggesting a contribution to the mathematical theory of consciousness.
arXiv Preprint Archive
April 22, 2023
Bonhee Ku, Tatsuya Itagaki, Katie Seaborn
A voice-based virtual assistant that moves its location along the body during guided meditation can create simultaneous feelings of immersion and dis-immersion. Researchers developed a multi-speaker system embedded in a yoga mat that shifts sound to different body areas as the meditation progresses, comparing it to a fixed smart speaker in interviews with twelve people. The wandering voice embodiment offers new design possibilities for guidance tasks beyond meditation, though the experience is not uniformly positive.