Work

The Phi measure of integrated information is not well-defined for general physical systems

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: According to the integrated information theory of consciousness (IIT), consciousness is a fundamental observer-independent property of physical systems, and the measure Phi of integrated information is identical to the quantity or level of consciousness. For this to be plausible, there should be no alternative formulae for Phi consistent with the axioms of IIT, and there should not be cases of F being ill-defined. This article presents three ways in which Phi, in its current formulation, fails to meet these standards, and discusses how this problem might be addressed.

Source: Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex)

Authors: Barrett, AB, Mediano, PAM

Language: English

Topic: Philosophy and Theoretical Science

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Award: Explaining Consciousness as Neural Dynamical Complexity

OpenAlex ID: W6995727369

FWCI: 1.196

Cites:

Cited by: 1

Related to: 10