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Mike Steel

2 papers in the library · publishing 2020-2021

Papers

Modelling aspects of consciousness: A topological perspective.

Journal of theoretical biology August 21, 2021 Mike Steel

Subjective awareness may arise because the brain builds a simplified, incomplete model of its own attention—an 'attention schema.' This incompleteness prevents us from fully understanding how consciousness emerges, which relates to the 'hard problem' of consciousness. Using a mathematical model grounded in classical topology, the paper demonstrates that a complete representation of attention is impossible for any system, human or machine, that monitors its own attention. The argument shows that attention streams cannot be faithfully represented internally, supporting the core claim of Attention Schema Theory: the brain's self-model of attention is necessarily incomplete.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110713 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Attention schema theory Consciousness Dimensionality Neuroscience +1

Modelling aspects of consciousness: a topological perspective

arXiv Preprint Archive November 10, 2020 Mike Steel

A complete representation of one's own attention is impossible, because attention streams cannot be faithfully modeled. This mathematical proof, using classical topology, supports Attention Schema Theory's claim that the brain's representation of its own attention is necessarily incomplete. That incompleteness explains why humans cannot understand how their subjective awareness arises, a core aspect of the so-called hard problem of consciousness.

Full text (opens in new tab) Consciousness theory Neuroscience neurobiology Neural science Brain research +4