Temporium, the mille-feuille of subjective time

Abstract: ‘Time’ is an amalgamation of two independent concepts, dimension and passage of time. Within ‘dimension’ exist two sub-concepts, course and arrow of time; the course is the sequence of states and the arrow the idea that the sequence has a preferential direction. The passage is the very different idea that the sequence is animated, … Read more

What are the theories of consciousness surveys worth?

Beyond the appearences Reading a new survey of theories of consciousness, from a computational point of view, I am amazed by the number of a priori which, without seeming to be so, are hidden in the middle of the text. This type of work, however, strives, with meticulousness, to get rid of postulates and ambivalences … Read more

Understanding Surimposium, the integral theory of reality

Abstract: The introduction sets the scene for a Theory of Everything (ToE): the observable, the provable, the root concepts, the limits, the author. Part 1 presents the transcendental thread, the TD principle (soliTary vs soliDary, whole vs part). From this principle is deduced the fundamental framework of reality, the complex variety, endowed with two dimensions, … Read more

Ken Wilber’s (too?) brief account of The Everything

Abstract: As Surimposium is a theory of everything presented on this site, I examine Ken Wilber’s earlier theory, which he expanded throughout his life. I separate the excellent start on Arthur Koestler’s holons, likely to win broad support, and the mystical veneer added by Wilber, which ends up erasing the initial coherence. I highlight Wilber’s … Read more

Quantum consciousness in 2024

Abstract: Quantum and conscious mysteries are brought together in the quantum theory of consciousness, where the phenomenon is attributed to the interaction between neurotransmitters and the zero-point field (ZPF). A materialist success, but a philosophical farce, since the qualitative richness of consciousness is not taken into account. A nugget, though: the theory is a simple … Read more

How do you know if an AI is conscious?

Abstract: Critical review of a reference article on consciousness in AIs, published by Patrick Butlin and Robert Long’s team on 22/08/23. Part 1 analyzes the pitfalls and resulting breaches in the study: sacralized definition of consciousness, exclusions in the chosen method, transposition of human theories to the digital, occultation of the qualitative phenomenon. Part 2: … Read more

How can we restore substance to matter?

Abstract: Given the difficulty in demonstrating the ontological reality of emergence, some authors propose to make a non-substantialist conception of it. But classical reductionist ontology is already failing to say whether there is a fundamental substance of things. It simply associates an information structure with each observable phenomenon, without justifying or contradicting the existence of … Read more

The mind is an identity approximator

There are countless ways to define the mind. Because its productions are. And the disciplines of the mind define it in reverse. There are physical, biological, psychological, sociological, and of course mathematical descriptions. The mind is like a prediction algorithm. Haven’t we read everywhere that it is Bayesian? No no, Bayesian neural functioning does not … Read more

A consciousness that is too horizontal

Abstract: The hierarchy works poorly because it is represented too horizontally in our minds. Defect inherent in the synthesis carried out in the conscious space. At this level of the neural network, the model flattens a social universe that is actually endowed with vertical complexity. Two mental dimensions In this chapter I use a notion … Read more

Stratium, a theory of mind and personality

This article is a presentation of Stratium for the professional readership, which complements the previous article for the general public. Intended for publication in specialized journals, it addresses more technical points in the first part, and in the second part provides a detailed test of current competing theses on consciousness. Abstract: Stratium is a body-mind … Read more