Separating weak integrated information theory (IIT) into IIT-inspired and aspirational-IIT approaches
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA commentary on Mediano et al.'s distinction between strong and weak versions of integrated information theory (IIT) of consciousness argues that their category of weak IIT is too broad. The authors propose splitting weak IIT into two subtypes: aspirational IIT, which aims to empirically test IIT by making tradeoffs to its proposed measures, and IIT-inspired approaches, which adopt high-level ideas of IIT while dropping its mathematical framework derived from an introspective, first-principles approach to consciousness.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Proposes that the category of "weak IIT" should be split into "aspirational IIT" and "IIT inspired" approaches to better capture the range of empirical and theoretical work related to integrated information theory. |
Abstract
Mediano et al. (1. Mediano 2022 TICS) separate out strong and weak flavours of the integrated information theory (IIT) of consciousness. They describe “strong IIT” as attempting to derive a universal formula for consciousness, and “weak IIT” as searching for empirically measurable correlates of aspects of consciousness. We put forward that their overall notion of “weak IIT” may be too weak. Rather, it should be separated out to distinguish “aspirational IIT”, which aims to empirically test IIT by making tradeoffs to its proposed measures, and “IIT inspired” approaches, which adopt high level ideas of IIT while dropping the mathematical framework it reaches through its introspective, first-principles approach to consciousness.