Consciousness Viewed in the Framework of Brain Phase Space Dynamics, Criticality, and the Renormalization Group
arXiv Preprint Archive March 7, 2011 via arXiv
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe paper argues that consciousness should be understood as a collective phenomenon emerging from the brain's complex neural dynamics, amenable to study through phase space dynamics and criticality. It critiques flawed notions in theoretical neuroscience that impede viewing consciousness as a physical phenomenon and highlights neglected facts in current discourse. Drawing on concepts from physics—phase transitions and the renormalization group—the author proposes that these tools account for emergent collective behaviors with distinct ontologies across scales. The central claim is that the subjectivity of consciousness arises as an epistemic interpretation of a new level of reality originating from phase transitions in the brain-body-environment system.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Q-bio.nc Cond-mat.dis-nn Consciousness Subjectivity Subjective experience |
| Key finding | Consciousness is proposed as a collective achievement of brain dynamics, emerging from phase transitions in the brain-body-environment system and interpretable via phase space dynamics and criticality. |
Abstract
To set the stage for viewing Consciousness in terms of brain phase space dynamics and criticality, I will first review currently prominent theoretical conceptualizations and, where appropriate, identify ill-advised and flawed notions in Theoretical Neuroscience that may impede viewing Consciousness as a phenomenon in Physics. I will furthermore introduce relevant facts that tend not to receive adequate attention in much of the current Consciousness discourse. As a new approach to conceptualizing Consciousness, I propose considering it as a collective achievement of the brain' s complex neural dynamics that is amenable to study in the framework of state space dynamics and criticality. In Physics, concepts of phase space transitions and the Renormalization Group are powerful tools for interpreting phenomena involving many scales of length and time in complex systems. The significance of these concepts lies in their accounting for the emergence of different levels of new collective behaviors in complex systems, each level with its distinct ontology, organization and laws, as a new pattern of reality. The presumption of this proposal is that the subjectivity of Consciousness is the epistemic interpretation of a level of reality that originates in phase transitions of the brain-body-environment system.