integrated information theory

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a mathematical theory of consciousness developed by Giulio Tononi proposing that consciousness is identical to integrated information — measured by the quantity phi (Φ) — and that any physical system with high phi is conscious to a corresponding degree; IIT begins from phenomenological axioms about the intrinsic, structured, specific, unified, and definite character of experience, derives from these axioms the properties that the physical substrate of consciousness must have, and identifies those properties with causal power and integration; IIT is controversial because it implies that consciousness is widely distributed in nature (a form of panpsychism) while also predicting that certain highly integrated non-biological systems could be conscious, making it one of the most philosophically provocative theories in contemporary consciousness science