Consciousness generates agent action.
Jonathan Delafield-Butt, Colwyn Trevarthen
Behavioral and Brain Sciences March 23, 2022 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x2100203x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that consciousness inverts linear causality to enable prospective, generative agent action, a property not captured by integrated information theory. |
Abstract
Consciousness directs the actions of the agent for its own purposive gains. It re-organises a stimulus-response linear causality to deliver generative, creative agent action that evaluates the subsequent experience prospectively. This inversion of causality affords special properties of control that are not accounted for in integrated information theory (IIT), which is predicated on a linear, deterministic cause-effect model. IIT remains an incomplete, abstract, and disembodied theory without explanation of the psychobiology of consciousness that serves the vital agency the organism.
Citations in the library
Cites 4
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- A neurocognitive theory of higher mental emergence: from anoetic affective experiences to noetic knowledge and autonoetic awareness. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews October 2011