Mechanism Integrated Information
Leonardo S. Barbosa, William Marshall, Larissa Albantakis, Giulio Tononi
Entropy March 18, 2021 DOI: 10.3390/e23030362 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractIntegrated Information Theory (IIT) begins with essential properties of consciousness and translates them into postulates that any physical system must satisfy to specify the physical substrate of consciousness. A recently introduced information measure captures three of these postulates—existence, intrinsicality, and information—and is unique. This work shows that the measure also satisfies the remaining postulates of integration and exclusion, creating a framework that identifies maximally irreducible mechanisms. These mechanisms can form maximally irreducible systems, which then specify the physical substrate of conscious experience.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Consciousness Mechanism biology Integrated information theory Measure data warehouse Order exchange |
| Citations | 74 |
| Key finding | Proposes that a recently introduced information measure satisfies all postulates of Integrated Information Theory, enabling the identification of maximally irreducible mechanisms and systems that specify the physical substrate of conscious experience. |
Abstract
The Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of consciousness starts from essential phenomenological properties, which are then translated into postulates that any physical system must satisfy in order to specify the physical substrate of consciousness. We recently introduced an information measure (Barbosa et al., 2020) that captures three postulates of IIT-existence, intrinsicality and information-and is unique. Here we show that the new measure also satisfies the remaining postulates of IIT-integration and exclusion-and create the framework that identifies maximally irreducible mechanisms. These mechanisms can then form maximally irreducible systems, which in turn will specify the physical substrate of conscious experience.