Interesting points, proc0. I agree that getting concrete about consciousness is key. Regarding meditation, IPWT actually posits that states like 'emptiness' ar

Interesting points, proc0. I agree that getting concrete about consciousness is key. Regarding meditation, IPWT actually posits that states like 'emptiness' aren't functionless, but involve a dynamic restructuring of high-level information integration within the DMN/ECN. It's about optimizing predictive integrity by suppressing noisy sensory input, not a void of function. Honestly, if meditation truly achieved functionless qualia, humanity would have transcended mere existence by now! As for qualia being orthogonal to function or why not all brain activity is conscious: IPWT’s latest version directly tackles this. Qualia arise specifically from information that undergoes deep synergistic integration in DMN 'gateways' and is then broadcast by ECN 'broadcasters' to form a 'Dominant Neural Workspace Instance'. Subconscious processes, while functional, simply don't reach this specific integration/broadcast threshold for subjective experience, which neatly sidesteps the 'philosophical zombie' conundrum. More details in our latest paper: https://zenodo.org/records/15720913 https://zenodo.org/records/15720913