Bio Systems
July 1, 2023
Aleksandr V Zhuravlev
Consciousness may be understood as an extension of physical laws, specifically total entropy dissipation that simplifies systems. The brain processes information at three levels: serial molecular genetic processes similar to digital computations, parallel neural network computations that learn and adapt, and a third level involving subjective consciousness and qualia. Qualia-associated computations convert neural information into simpler, more compact forms internally observed as qualia, enabling the brain to recognize general laws and relationships. This gives conscious brains an advantage over artificial intelligence by allowing behavior guided by meaning rather than blind trial-and-error.
Bio Systems
July 1, 2023
Sergey B. Yurchenko
The relation between information and causation is intrinsically linked to emergence, self-organization, and hierarchy. A canonical example of downward causation is the collective behavior of a whole system at a macroscale affecting the behavior of its members at a microscale. In neuroscience, downward causation is suggested as a candidate for mental causation (free will), but only if information has causal power. After introducing the Causal Equivalence Principle and a set-theoretical definition of multiscale nested hierarchy, the author argues that downward causation can be spurious, emerging only in the eyes of an observer due to information not obtainable by looking exclusively at microscale behavior.
Bio Systems
May 1, 2023
Mina Arakaki, Chikako Dozono, Hanna Frolova et al.
A previously proposed mathematical model of consciousness, the HLbC model, is applied to psychological phenomena and shown to account for optical illusions, empathy, mutual understanding, and prospect theory. Optical illusions like Rubin's vase arise from stochastic fluctuations in consciousness when a figure permits multiple interpretations. Empathy and mutual understanding are mathematically represented using Kullback-Leibler divergence, a core component of the model. The model also successfully explains properties of prospect theory, which underlies behavioral economics. These results indicate the HLbC model can explain aspects of psychological consciousness.
Bio Systems
March 1, 2023
Hana Hebishima, Mina Arakaki, Chikako Dozono et al.
A mathematical model of consciousness and will is proposed. First, a toy neural network simulated inverted qualia, confirming that qualia are individual-dependent and thus difficult to use as an indicator of consciousness and will. To address this, a probability space and a random variable are introduced into a set of qualia, defining a human language for events. Consciousness and will are then modeled: future actions are randomly selected from a comparison between external event recognition and past episodic memory, and the actual recognition of actions is regarded as the occurrence of consciousness. The basic formula is derived and compared with past philosophical discussions.
Bio Systems
January 1, 2023
Stuart Kauffman, Dean Radin
The mind-brain relationship may be partially quantum, not fully explained by classical physics. The authors propose a model with two ontological elements: Possibles (not obeying Aristotle's law of excluded middle) and Actuals (obeying it). Measurement registered by an observer's mind converts Possibles into Actuals, suggesting mind may be quantum and play an active role in the physical world. This aligns with proposals by Heisenberg (1958), von Neumann (1955), and Stapp. Empirical evidence supports these possibilities.
Bio Systems
January 1, 2020
Danko D. Georgiev
Consciousness consists of inner, private, first-person experiences that cannot be observed or communicated via classical bits of information, posing a challenge for explaining how it could arise from physical neurons. Classical thought experiments like inverted qualia and the knowledge argument highlight this difficulty but do not prove consciousness is nonphysical. Modern quantum physics distinguishes between unobservable quantum state vectors (what exists) and observable quantum operators (what can be observed). Identifying consciousness with unobservable quantum information in brain states resolves paradoxes of privacy and explains how the observable brain arises from classical information extracted from quantum states, bound by Holevo's theorem.
Bio Systems
November 1, 2018
Nadezhda Barvitenko, Alfons Lawen, Muhammad Aslam et al.
A theoretical analysis proposes that the complex of the plasma membrane and the microtubule-based cytoskeleton acts as a system for transmitting, storing, and processing information in living cells. The work integrates three existing theories: the Penrose-Hameroff theory of consciousness (Orchestrated Objective Reduction), the centrosome as a reference system for constructing a 3D cell map, and the Heimburg-Jackson model of nerve pulse propagation as soliton-like electro-mechanical waves. These ideas together offer a qualitative model for decision-making processes during cell differentiation, paving the way for live-cell observation of information processing by the microtubule-based cytoskeleton and cell fate decisions.
Bio Systems
February 1, 2017
Yukio-Pegio Gunji, Shuji Shinohara, Taichi Haruna et al.
A measurement-oriented inference system that combines Bayesian and inverse Bayesian inferences can bridge the gap between mind and matter without relying on quantum mechanics. Bayesian inference contracts probability space while inverse inference relaxes it, enabling an agent to make decisions that adapt to immediate environmental changes. This process generates a pattern of joint probability for data and hypotheses, forming a nondistributive orthomodular lattice equivalent to quantum logic. The model shows that such a lattice can reveal information generated by inverse syllogism and address the frame and symbol-grounding problems. This is the first model to connect macroscopic cognitive processes with the mathematical structure of quantum mechanics without additional assumptions.