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There are theories that equate information processing (integration/differentiation) with consciousness. It maps well with what happens in your brain, where too
by pygy_ 7y ago
There are theories that equate information processing (integration/differentiation) with consciousness.
It maps well with what happens in your brain, where too little or too much functional connectivity maps to loss of consciousness (think anesthesia and epilepsy).
- adrianN 7y agoRocks also have complex internal structure that responds to external influence, e.g. atoms vibrating in their crystal lattices depending on heat and pressure. Maybe there is a Boltzmann consciousness inside the rock when you're picking it up. What is "information" and what is noise is a matter of interpretation.
- pygy_ 7y agoThere may be some consciousness in the rock. The gist of these theories is that consciousness is isomorphic to specific aspects of information processing that can be quantified.
- BlueTemplar 7y agoThe levels of complexity involved are hardly comparable...
- hackinthebochs 7y agoRocks have random structure, not complex structure. Randomness does not entail consciousness. A feature of consciousness is that it is informative: it informs you about the external state of the world or about internal processes. But a random configuration of molecules carry no information. (A random string is information but it doesn't carry information, i.e. mutual information with another structure.)