Wiese Wanja
Department of Philosophy, Johannes Gutenberg University, Jakob-Welder-Weg 18, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
Neurosci Conscious. 2020 Jul 11;2020(1):niaa013. doi: 10.1093/nc/niaa013. eCollection 2020.
This article discusses a hypothesis recently put forward by Kanai , according to which information generation constitutes a functional basis of, and a sufficient condition for, consciousness. Information generation involves the ability to compress and subsequently decompress information, potentially after a temporal delay and adapted to current purposes. I will argue that information generation should not be regarded as a sufficient condition for consciousness, but could serve as what I will call a "minimal unifying model of consciousness." A minimal unifying model (MUM) specifies at least one necessary feature of consciousness, characterizes it in a determinable way, and shows that it is entailed by (many) existing theories of consciousness. Information generation fulfills these requirements. A MUM of consciousness is useful, because it unifies existing theories of consciousness by highlighting their common assumptions, while enabling further developments from which empirical predictions can be derived. Unlike existing theories (which probably contain at least some false assumptions), a MUM is thus likely to be an adequate model of consciousness, albeit at a relatively general level. Assumptions embodied in such a model are less informative than assumptions made by more specific theories and hence function more in the way of guiding principles. Still, they enable further refinements, in line with new empirical results and broader theoretical and evolutionary considerations. This also allows developing the model in ways that facilitate more specific claims and predictions.
本文讨论了金井最近提出的一个假说，根据该假说，信息生成构成了意识的功能基础和充分条件。信息生成涉及压缩并随后解压缩信息的能力，可能会有时间延迟并适应当前目的。我将论证，信息生成不应被视为意识的充分条件，但可以作为我所称的“意识的最小统一模型”。一个最小统一模型（MUM）规定了意识的至少一个必要特征，以一种可确定的方式对其进行描述，并表明它是（许多）现有意识理论所蕴含的。信息生成满足这些要求。意识的MUM是有用的，因为它通过突出其共同假设来统一现有的意识理论，同时允许进一步发展，从中可以得出实证预测。与现有理论（可能至少包含一些错误假设）不同，因此MUM可能是一个适当的意识模型，尽管处于相对一般的层面。这种模型所体现的假设比更具体的理论所做的假设信息含量更少，因此更多地起到指导原则的作用。尽管如此，它们能够根据新的实证结果以及更广泛的理论和进化考虑进行进一步完善。这也允许以有助于提出更具体的主张和预测的方式来发展该模型。
