Holographic Duality and the Physics of Consciousness.

A novel dual-aspect theory of consciousness is proposed, grounded in the principle of holographic duality from modern physics. The theory aims to provide consciousness-independent explanations for anti-physicalist intuitions about representational content and spatial location, while setting aside the hard problem and phenomenal character. The author argues that abstract algorithms are insufficient and that a more radical form of computation, inspired by physics and realizable in strange metals, may be required. This approach could establish necessary connections between structural aspects of conscious mental states and their physical substrate, and explain why representational content is not spatially located. The paper ends by reconsidering the conceivability of zombies.

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Abstract

This paper introduces a novel dual-aspect theory of consciousness that is based on the principle of holographic-duality in modern physics and explores the prospects of making philosophically significant empirical discoveries about the physical correlates of consciousness. The theory is motivated by an approach that identifies certain anti-physicalist problem intuitions associated with representational content and spatial location and attempts to provide these with a consciousness-independent explanation, while suspending questions about the hard problem of consciousness and the more problematic "phenomenal character". Providing such topic neutral explanations is "hard" enough to make a philosophical difference and yet "easy" enough to be approached scientifically. I will argue that abstract algorithms are not enough to solve this problem and that a more radical "computation" that is inspired by physics and that can be realized in "strange metals" may be needed. While speculative, this approach has the potential to both establish necessary connections between structural aspects of conscious mental states and the physical substrate "generating" them and explain why this representational content is "nowhere to be found". I will end with a reconsideration of the conceivability of zombies.