Integrated information theory

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Integrated information theory (IIT) proposes a mathematical model for the consciousness of a system. It comprises a framework ultimately intended to explain why some physical systems (such as human brains) are conscious,^[1] and to be capable of providing a concrete inference about whether any physical system is conscious, to what degree, and what particular experience it is having; why they feel the particular way they do in particular states (e.g. why our visual field appears extended when we gaze out at the night sky),^[2] and what it would take for other physical systems to be conscious (Are other animals conscious? Might the whole universe be?).^[3]

According to IIT, a system's consciousness (what it is like subjectively) is conjectured to be identical to its causal properties (what it is like objectively). Therefore it should be possible to account for the conscious experience of a physical system by unfolding its complete causal powers.^[4]

IIT was proposed by neuroscientist Giulio Tononi in 2004.^[5] Despite significant interest, IIT remains controversial and has been widely criticized, with some claiming that it is unfalsifiable pseudoscience.^[6]