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A Compositional Model of Consciousness Based on Consciousness-Only.

Camilo Miguel Signorelli, Quanlong Wang, Ilyas Khan

Entropy (Basel) March 5, 2021 DOI: 10.3390/e23030308 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Citations 12
Key points Proposes that consciousness is fundamental and other-dependent, and that a compact closed category framework can model this feature, potentially avoiding the hard problem of consciousness and addressing the combination problem.

Abstract

Scientific studies of consciousness rely on objects whose existence is assumed to be independent of any consciousness. On the contrary, we assume consciousness to be fundamental, and that one of the main features of consciousness is characterized as being other-dependent. We set up a framework which naturally subsumes this feature by defining a compact closed category where morphisms represent conscious processes. These morphisms are a composition of a set of generators, each being specified by their relations with other generators, and therefore co-dependent. The framework is general enough and fits well into a compositional model of consciousness. Interestingly, we also show how our proposal may become a step towards avoiding the hard problem of consciousness, and thereby address the combination problem of conscious experiences.