PROCESS, CONSCIOUSNESS, AND INTEGRATED INFORMATION

Conscious experience meets all criteria for a processual analysis: it is complex, functionally or causally determined, and has a temporal basis. The paper revisits the concept of self-transformative processes—processes that change themselves, such as a stretched bow—and provides a well-formed description using non-classic mereology and self-modulating variables. It then applies this concept to consciousness, showing that traces of self-transformativeness appear in many theories of consciousness, especially when their internal mechanisms are stressed. Integrated Information Theory serves as a paradigmatic example; the paper demonstrates that quantitative self-transformativeness is a requirement at the very core of the integration of information.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract Process aspects are prevalent in many domains of reality, and consciousness is no exception. Nevertheless, while the processual approach implicitly underlies the theories of consciousness, an explicit statement of the question is scarcely found in the literature. This paper tries to bridge this gap. Here, I argue that conscious experience fulfils all the requirements for a processual analysis: it is complex, functionally/causally determined, and has a temporal basis. Then, I revisit an old concept, self-transformative processes, which refers to processes that change themselves. These processes are very common. A stretched bow is the classical Heraclitean example. However, it is easy to misunderstand what self-transformativeness is. To provide a well-formed description, I characterize self-transformative processes in terms of composition (using a non-classic mereology) and in terms of functionality (by developing the concept of self-modulating variables). Finally, I apply self-transformative processes to explain consciousness. Traces of self-transformativeness can be found in many theories of consciousness, particularly when they are stressed about their internal mechanisms. Here, I focus on Integrated Information Theory as a paradigmatic example of a mathematically well-described theory, and I demonstrate that quantitative self-transformativeness is a requirement at the very core of the integration of the information.