[ExI] Fwd: New article: EM Field Theory of Consciousness

[Colin Hales]

Hi,
This is to let you know of the arrival of this publication:

Hales, C.G., and Ericson, M.L. (2022). Electromagnetism’s Bridge Across the
Explanatory Gap: How a Neuroscience/Physics Collaboration delivers
Explanation into all Theories of Consciousness. Frontiers in Human
Neuroscience 16.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.836046/full
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.836046/full#supplementary-material


This is the full and final argument.

Note that on page 9 there is a brief discussion of a new kind of chip. That
is the one I am building at unimelb. AGI because it can't be anything else.
Actual artificial neurons (no general-purpose computing, no software, no
models, no programming). Bottom line line: put the signalling physics of
the brain in in natural form, naturally interacting, naturally adapting on
the chips, NOT the physics of a general purpose computer.

The abstract is below. Overall:
1) all theories of consciousness are actually EM field theories.
2) bringing explanation of the 1st person perspective requires an
epistemic upgrade to the standard model of particle physics.

Turns out that to properly cover all the bases needed 22 pages and an 8
page supplementary. Sorry about that.

Interesting times.

cheers,
Colin


==========================================
A productive, informative three decades of correlates of phenomenal
consciousness (P-Consciousness) have delivered valuable knowledge while
simultaneously locating us in a unique and unprecedented explanatory
cul-de-sac. Observational correlates are demonstrated to be intrinsically
very unlikely to explain or lead to a fundamental principle underlying the
strongly emergent 1st-person-perspective (1PP) invisibly stowed away inside
them. That lack is now solidly evidenced in practice. To escape our
explanatory impasse, this article focuses on fundamental physics (the
standard model of particle physics), which brings to light a foundational
argument for how the brain is an essentially electromagnetic (EM) field
object from the atomic level up. That is, our multitude of correlates of
P-Consciousness are actually descriptions of specific EM field behaviors
that are posed (hypothesized) as “the right” correlate by a particular
theory of consciousness. Because of this, our 30 years of empirical
progress can be reinterpreted as, in effect, the delivery of a large body
of evidence that the standard model’s EM quadrant can deliver a 1PP. That
is, all theories of consciousness are, in the end, merely recipes that
select a particular subset of the totality of EM field expression that is
brain tissue. With a universal convergence on EM, the science of
P-Consciousness becomes a collaborative effort between neuroscience and
physics. The collaboration acts in pursuit of a unified explanation
applicable to all theories of consciousness while remaining mindful that
the process still contains no real explanation as to why or how EM fields
deliver a 1PP. The apparent continued lack of explanation is, however,
different: this time, the way forward is opened through its direct
connection to fundamental physics. This is the first result (Part I). Part
II posits, in general terms, a structural (epistemic) add-on/upgrade to the
standard model that has the potential to deliver the missing route to an
explanation of how subjectivity is delivered through EM fields. The revised
standard model, under the neuroscience/physics collaboration, intimately
integrates with the existing “correlates of-” paradigm, which acts as its
source of empirical evidence. No existing theory of consciousness is lost
or invalidated.
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