The strength of weak integrated information theory
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Mediano, Pedro AM
Rosas, Fernando E
Bor, Daniel
Seth, Anil K
Barrett, Adam B
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The integrated information theory of consciousness (IIT) is divisive: while some believe it provides an unprecedentedly powerful approach to address the ‘hard problem’, others dismiss it on grounds that it is untestable. We argue that the appeal and applicability of IIT can be greatly widened if we distinguish two flavours of the theory: strong IIT, which identifies consciousness with specific properties associated with maxima of integrated information; and weak IIT, which tests pragmatic hypotheses relating aspects of consciousness to broader measures of information dynamics. We review challenges for strong IIT, explain how existing empirical findings are well explained by weak IIT without needing to commit to the entirety of strong IIT, and discuss the outlook for both flavours of IIT.
Date Issued
2022-08
Date Acceptance
2022-06-01
Citation
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2022, 26 (8), pp.646-655
ISSN
1364-6613
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
646
End Page
655
Journal / Book Title
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Volume
26
Issue
8
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Trends in
Cognitive Sciences OPEN ACCESS
TICS 2290 No. of Pages 10
Trends in
Cognitive Sciences OPEN ACCESS
TICS 2290 No. of Pages 10
License URL
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661322000924?via%3Dihub
Subjects
Experimental Psychology
08 Information and Computing Sciences
11 Medical and Health Sciences
17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-06-01