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Mysterious Consciousness: Why does the view of the night sky feel so vast to us?
When we look up at the night sky, with the twinkling stars and the distant Milky Way, there is always a mysterious feeling in our hearts. A feeling that arises not just from the beauty of nature, but also from the fact that this vision is closely tied to our consciousness. Consciousness, an issue that has caused countless thoughts among philosophers and scientists since ancient times, has not yet been fully explained. With the advancement of science, more and more theories have begun to explore the nature of consciousness, among which "Integrated Information Theory" (IIT) has become a compelling direction.
Integrating basic concepts of information theory
Integrated information theory was proposed by neuroscientist Giulio Tononi in 2004, aiming to build a mathematical model to explain the existence and nature of consciousness. The theory holds that the consciousness of some physical systems is identical to its causal properties, meaning that by deconstructing a system's causal capabilities we can understand the nature of its conscious experience.
"The nature of consciousness can be explained by fully demonstrating the causal capabilities of a system."
This theory not only explores human consciousness, but also represents a macro perspective that allows us to think about whether consciousness exists in other animals or even the universe itself. This also raises an important question: does consciousness exist on a spectrum?
The “hard problem” of consciousness
Rather than saying that integrated information theory gives the answers to all questions, it is better to say that it provides a unique perspective on unsolved "hard questions." According to renowned philosopher David Chalmers, the existence of consciousness cannot be deduced from the laws of physics alone. He emphasized that we need to first accept the fact that our consciousness exists and think about the relevant physical basis.
"Integrated information theory starts from consciousness and explores the properties required for its physical substrate."
Within this framework, IIT attempts to identify the fundamental properties of conscious experience (called axioms) and its necessary properties of physical systems (called hypotheses). Through this process, the theory also encompasses implications for consciousness in patients with schizophrenia and those who are missing large amounts of brain matter.
Computational challenges and experimental work
Although integrated information theory provides a theoretical model to analyze consciousness, calculating the Φ value (the total amount of integrated information exhibited by the system) of large-scale systems remains challenging. Researchers try to simplify this process through approximate calculation methods, such as Φ* and geometric integration information (ΦG) studied by Oizumi et al.
"While these proxy measures work in practice, they do not have mathematically provable relationships, which complicates interpretation."
As a result, detection of most complex systems remains difficult, however, scientists have begun to use these methods to conduct experiments on individuals with different states of consciousness.
Theoretical support and criticism
Integrated information theory has been widely supported and criticized in the academic community. Among them, some neuroscientists believe that the theory has unique potential. For example, scientist Christof Koch called it "the only truly promising fundamental theory of consciousness." However, some critics believe that it covers too broad a scope and is not scientifically falsifiable.
"It is necessary to further explore it on an empirically measurable basis, although the current application of IIT in some models has shown its potential."
In particular, the well-known philosopher John Searle criticized the theory's association with panpsychism, which raised some empirical doubts.
Thinking about the future
Integrated information theory is undoubtedly an important attempt to explain the phenomenon of consciousness, although this theory is still controversial. From the vastness of the night sky to the depth of consciousness, is there any inner connection between these seemingly unrelated things?
