From the Phenomenology to the Mechanisms of Consciousness: Integrated Information Theory 3.0
PLoS Comput. Biol. May 1, 2014 Masafumi Oizumi, L. Albantakis, G. Tononi
Integrated Information Theory (IIT) 3.0 proposes that consciousness is identical to a maximally irreducible conceptual structure (MICS) generated by a physical system. Starting from phenomenological axioms—information (each experience is specific), integration (each experience is unified), and exclusion (each experience has unique borders and grain)—IIT formalizes postulates for how mechanisms like neurons must be configured to produce experience. The theory defines intrinsic information as differences that make a difference within a system and integrated information as information of a whole irreducible to its parts. A MICS specifies the quality of an experience, and integrated information (ΦMax) its quantity. The theory entails that consciousness is always about the system itself, that inactive elements can generate experience, and that feed-forward systems can be unconscious zombies functionally equivalent to conscious complexes.