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The universe can be conscious. Despite the somewhat poetic phrase, whoever says this is possible is really a science: good old math.
We can accurately predict natural phenomena simply by manipulating numbers, from the movements of the planets to the collision of two black holes billions of light-years away. But how is this possible? To explain, scientists are working on a controversial model called the Integrated Information Theory (IIT).
This model tries to quantify and measure consciousness. When applied to inanimate objects, such as machines, subatomic particles, and the universe itself, the model achieves an intriguing result: They are also aware.
“This could be the beginning of a scientific revolution,” Johannes Kleiner, a mathematician at the Center for Mathematical Philosophy at the University of Munich, Germany, told New Scientist magazine.
Complex mathematics
Integrated information theory is based on a value called “phi”, which represents the interconnectivity of a network, be it a brain region, a circuit, or an atom. This calculation reflects the level of consciousness of this network. The higher the “phi”, the more conscious. The human cerebral cortex, for example, has a very high value, since it contains dense groups of interconnected neurons.
When neuroscientist Giulio Tononi first proposed the IIT, calculating “phi” was almost impossible. Reaching the consciousness value of a human brain would have taken longer than the existence of the universe. However, an article published in February this year by the creators of the theory tries to significantly simplify the process.
Their findings seem to suggest that if we want an accurate description of consciousness, we must abandon our beliefs and accept that all kinds of matter, even inanimate ones, can be conscious, perhaps even the universe as a whole.
Many academics, however, remain reluctant to integrated information theory. Not because of its complexity, but mainly because of the far-reaching implications that the idea of a “conscious universe” can bring.
“I think mathematics can help us understand the neural basis of consciousness in the brain, and perhaps even in machines, but it will inevitably leave something out: the quality of this experience, felt internally,” said Susan Schneider, philosopher and scientist. cognitive from the University of Connecticut, in the United States, to New Scientist.
