Consciousness as the Temporal Propagation of Information.

Understanding the mind and its relation to the body depends on how consciousness is defined. The authors argue that an information-theory perspective offers a unified and parsimonious account. They present consciousness as the propagation of information from the past to the future, contrasting with dominant models that treat it as a discrete brain function. Using this lens, they demonstrate that temporal continuity in perception can explain the emergence of volition, subjectivity, higher-order thoughts, and body boundaries without additional assumptions. The work discusses implications for the mind-body question and the appeal of embodied cognition.

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Abstract

Our ability to understand the mind and its relation to the body is highly dependent on the way we define consciousness and the lens through which we study it. We argue that looking at conscious experience from an information-theory perspective can help obtain a unified and parsimonious account of the mind. Today's dominant models consider consciousness to be a specialized function of the brain characterized by a discrete neural event. Against this background, we consider subjective experience through information theory, presenting consciousness as the propagation of information from the past to the future. We examine through this perspective major characteristics of consciousness. We demonstrate that without any additional assumptions, temporal continuity in perception can explain the emergence of volition, subjectivity, higher order thoughts, and body boundaries. Finally, we discuss the broader implications for the mind-body question and the appeal of embodied cognition.