The QBIT Theory of Consciousness
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The QBIT Theory of Consciousness Majid Beshkar 1 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The QBIT theory is an attempt toward solving the problem of consciousness based on empirical evidence provided by various scientific disciplines including quantum mechanics, biology, information theory, and thermodynamics. This theory formulates the problem of consciousness in the following four questions, and provides preliminary answers for each question: Question 1: What is the nature of qualia? Answer: A quale is a superdense pack of quantum information encoded in maximally entangled pure states. Question 2: How are qualia generated? Answer: When a pack of quantum information is compressed beyond a certain threshold, a quale is generated. Question 3: Why are qualia subjective? Answer: A quale is subjective because a pack of information encoded in maximally entangled pure states are essentially private and unshareable. Question 4: Why does a quale have a particular meaning? Answer: A pack of information within a cognitive system gradually obtains a particular meaning as it undergoes a progressive process of interpretation performed by an internal model installed in the system. This paper introduces the QBIT theory of consciousness, and explains its basic assumptions and conjectures. Keywords Coherence . Compression . Computation . Consciousness . Entanglement .
Free-energy principle . Generative model . Information . Qualia . Quantum . Representation
* Majid Beshkar [email protected]
1
Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Integr Psych Behav
Introduction The problem of consciousness is one of the most difficult problems in biology, which has remained unresolved despite several decades of scientific research. The hard core of the problem of consciousness is in fact the problem of qualia. Qualia (plural for quale) refers to subjective conscious experiences such as a red color, a sharp pain, a particular smell, or a specific taste. As an example, when we see a red flower, the redness that we experience is a quale. Our consciousness at any moment consists of several different qualia. In fact, “To be conscious” means “to have qualia”, and unconscious perception means “qualia-less perception”. To resolve the problem of consciousness, empirical evidence alone is not sufficient; we also need an appropriate theory to select and put together diverse (and sometimes seemingly unrelated) empirical evidence to reveal a hidden pattern. In this context, the QBIT theory is an attempt toward solving the puzzle of consciousness with pieces of evidence collected from different scientific disciplines including quantum mechanics, biology, information theory, and thermodynamics. The QBIT theory formulates the problem of consciousness in the following four questions: (1) What is the nature of qualia? (2) How are qualia generated? (3) Why are qualia subjective? (4) Why does a quale have a particular meaning? In sum, the QBIT theory is based on the following assumptions and conjectures
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