Consciousness Wars

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Consciousness Wars

#1  Postby kennyc » May 01, 2014 9:03 pm

Consciousness Wars: Tononi-Koch versus Searle
Posted on March 17, 2013

kochGuilio Tononi has proposed a theory of consciousness he calls “Integrated Information Theory” (IIT)*. Very roughly, the theory is based on Shannon’s concept of information, but extends this by adding a property refers to as “Integrated Information”. Information will exist in an entity when it has information and is connected. This property is called “Phi” (rhymes with “by”, written φ) and can be computed. The higher the Phi, the more conscious the entity.

Although theories of consciousness are not new, this one is special: it has high-profile converts, perhaps the most noteable being Christof Koch. Koch, Cal Tech professor and chief scientific officer of the Allen Brain Institute, is best known for his book, The Quest for Consciousness: a Neurobiological Approach. A new Koch book, Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist is largely a description of and paean to IIT. It’s fair to view Tononi and Koch as collaborators.


John Searle is an eminent philosopher who thinks about the brain and is taken seriously by Neuroscientists. Until recently he and Koch were on the same page. For example, Searle has endorsed Koch’s concept of studying the Neural Correlates of Consciousness (NCC). Searle frequently writes for the New York Review of Books, and has on occasion generated debate. Notable was Searle’s 1995 critical review of Daniel Dennett “Consciousness Explained” that generated a prolonged exchange.

In the January 10, 2013 issue of the New York Review of Books Searle reviews “Confessions” and solidifies his disputative reputation**. The review is devastatingly critical. The essence of Searle’s criticism is that IIT employs a mindful observer to explain mind. There is a little man in the middle of the theory; that information isn’t information until it is “read” by an entity with a mind. There may be message in the information carrier, but it becomes information when read.***

....


http://coronaradiata.net/2013/03/17/con ... us-searle/

Lots of interesting additional information in links from the above article.
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Re: Consciousness Wars

#2  Postby DavidMcC » May 02, 2014 4:53 pm

Whilst I think Koch talks sense, by and large, about consciouness and the unconscious "mind", he also says some things in his book, "Conscioiusness", that do not make sense. A good example is his discussion in chapter 6 (In which he defends two propositions that his former self found nonsense...):
Apparently, a certain WWII Admiral Kimmel of the US Pacific fleet thought that the Japanese would not be capable of mounting an attack on Pearl Harbour, so far from Japan. Koch seems to think that Kimmel was unaware of his own opinions about the Japanese, just because he did not discuss them in public before Pearl Harbour! Therefore, goes Koch's argument, Kimmel must have had an unconscious opinion of the Japanese. I find it hard to accept that unexpressed opinions by senior militray officers are necessarily opinions that they did not know they had! :roll:

EDIT: Basically, I think his former self knew better than his later self!
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Re: Consciousness Wars

#3  Postby kennyc » May 02, 2014 5:04 pm

Koch's position and direction on consciousness has changed considerably over his career, particularly recently.

As I was just saying in another thread, several of these researchers in Cognitive Science and Neural Science seem to be increasingly on the right track and I'm hoping for significant breakthroughs in the coming years.
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Re: Consciousness Wars

#4  Postby DavidMcC » May 11, 2014 3:11 pm

kennyc wrote:Koch's position and direction on consciousness has changed considerably over his career, particularly recently.

...

How recently, Kenny? I have already noted the dramatic shift he made AWAY from modern, rational thought, by switching to the 18th century, with his 2012 book, "Consciousness":

By chapter 8, for example, in which he argues that "consciousness is a fundamental property of complex things", he seems to have come off the rails completely, arguing that there is a "simple" substance, he calls MONAD, which enables consciousness. This, he admits, is quoting from an 18th C philosopher, Leibniz. C, Koch asserts, cannot come from anything else than this "stuff". Like Leibniz, he does not consider C to be an emergent property, but more like electrical charge - only this time, a property of "MONAD". Worse still, literally everything has the stuff, apparently, so it's a bit like phlogiston, which, interestingly, also dates from the 18th century.
There are moments of sanity in chapter 8. Eg, where he argues that C comes from the organization of the brain's circuitry. But this, to my mind, contradicts his MONAD-type theory (because that has nothing to do with the mysterious, "simple stuff" theory, although he doesn't seem to realise it). Another "good bit" is where he discusses "integrated information theory" in that same chapter. This allows for non-biological consciousness, and I don't disagree with it. No doubt, GrahamH also agrees on that part. In short, he appears to be facing two ways at once - if it's MONAD that does it, and it occurs in all things, why do you need the organization of the brain's circuitry as well?
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