Consciousness as Integrated Information
Integrated Information Theory (IIT) is represented by the symbol Phi (Not Pi), pictured. Confusingly, this symbol is also used to define the number 1.618 - the golden ratio.
IIT proposes that systems are conscious if and when they surpass a threshold where the parts connect and provide feedback to each other, thereby generating an emergent system which is greater than individual components.
Proponents - among them eminent philosophers and scientists - claim that Phi is calculable and predictable, which automatically vaults it into rarified air among ideas vying to explain our mysterious conscious qualities. Even a rock would have some miniscule number, as might an integrated planet earth. The mind and body would of course represent the prototypical, interconnected and conscious system.
Certain theories of time also view our temporal experience as information processing and storage, the registry of which creates the sensation of time’s flow. We feel the phenomenon of time passing because information itself moves through our consciousness and is stored in memory, or is discarded and forgotten. That processing and storage of information provides the experience of time’s passage - our consciousness of time’s passage.
These theories attempt to explain our experiences through interactions and information flow, rather than fixed or essential properties about our brain, mind or time. They’re integrated - you can’t sprint without feeling your arms pump or paint without the paint (Zen koans excluded).
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Background reading: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/can-integrated-information-theory-explain-consciousness/