Separating weak integrated information theory into inspired and aspirational approaches

Angus Leung; Naotsugu Tsuchiya

doi:10.1093/nc/niad012

Separating weak integrated information theory into inspired and aspirational approaches

Angus Leung, Naotsugu Tsuchiya

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Mediano et al. (The strength of weak integrated information theory. Trends Cogn Sci 2022;26: 646-55.) 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 trade-offs 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.

Original language	English
Article number	niad012
Number of pages	3
Journal	Neuroscience of Consciousness
Volume	2023
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/nc/niad012
Publication status	Published - 2023

Keywords

aspirational-IIT
consciousness
IIT-inspired
integrated information theory
weak-IIT

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1093/nc/niad012Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Separating weak integrated information theory into inspired and aspirational approaches",

abstract = "Mediano et al. (The strength of weak integrated information theory. Trends Cogn Sci 2022;26: 646-55.) 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 trade-offs 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.",

keywords = "aspirational-IIT, consciousness, IIT-inspired, integrated information theory, weak-IIT",

author = "Angus Leung and Naotsugu Tsuchiya",

note = "Funding Information: National Health and Medical Research Council (Ideas Grant GNT1183280; for AL and NT); Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF0199; for NT); Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP180104128 and Discovery Project DP180100396; both for NT); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (B) 20H05709 and 20H05710; for NT). Funders had no role in decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press.",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1093/nc/niad012",

language = "English",

volume = "2023",

journal = "Neuroscience of Consciousness",

issn = "2057-2107",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

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AU - Leung, Angus

AU - Tsuchiya, Naotsugu

N1 - Funding Information: National Health and Medical Research Council (Ideas Grant GNT1183280; for AL and NT); Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF0199; for NT); Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP180104128 and Discovery Project DP180100396; both for NT); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (B) 20H05709 and 20H05710; for NT). Funders had no role in decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Mediano et al. (The strength of weak integrated information theory. Trends Cogn Sci 2022;26: 646-55.) 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 trade-offs 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.

AB - Mediano et al. (The strength of weak integrated information theory. Trends Cogn Sci 2022;26: 646-55.) 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 trade-offs 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.

KW - aspirational-IIT

KW - consciousness

KW - IIT-inspired

KW - integrated information theory

KW - weak-IIT

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U2 - 10.1093/nc/niad012

DO - 10.1093/nc/niad012

M3 - Review Article

C2 - 37205987

AN - SCOPUS:85161859368

SN - 2057-2107

VL - 2023

JO - Neuroscience of Consciousness

JF - Neuroscience of Consciousness

IS - 1

M1 - niad012

ER -

Separating weak integrated information theory into inspired and aspirational approaches

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Integrating theory-guided and data-driven approaches for measuring consciousness

Multimodal testing for a fast subcortical route for salient visual stimuli

Cite this

Separating weak integrated information theory into inspired and aspirational approaches

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Projects

Integrating theory-guided and data-driven approaches for measuring consciousness

Multimodal testing for a fast subcortical route for salient visual stimuli

Cite this