Related papers: Hard Problem and Free Will: an information-theoret…
A fundamental resource in any communication and computation task is the amount of information that can be transmitted and processed. Information encoded in a classical system is limited by the dimension d_c of the system, i.e., the number…
An objective definition of pragmatic information and the consideration of recent results about information processing in the human brain can help overcome some traditional difficulties with the interpretation of quantum mechanics. Rather…
Two classically equivalent expressions of mutual information of probability distributions (classical bipartite states) diverge when extended to quantum systems, and this difference has been employed to define quantum discord, a quantifier…
We examine the hypothesis that consciousness can be understood as a state of matter, "perceptronium", with distinctive information processing abilities. We explore five basic principles that may distinguish conscious matter from other…
We approach the question "What is Consciousness?" in a new way, not as Descartes' "systematic doubt", but as how organisms find their way in their world. Finding one's way involves finding possible uses of features of the world that might…
Resource identification and quantification is an essential element of both classical and quantum information theory. Entanglement is one of these resources, arising when quantum communication and nonlocal operations are expensive to…
I wish to discuss a large, interwoven set of topics pointed at in the title above. Much of what I say is highly speculative, some is testable, some is, at present, surely not. It is, I hope, useful, to set these ideas forth for our…
There are (at least) three approaches to quantifying information. The first, algorithmic information or Kolmogorov complexity, takes events as strings and, given a universal Turing machine, quantifies the information content of a string as…
In the context of theories of the connection between mind and brain, physicalism is the demand that all is basically purely physical. But the concept of "physical" embodied in this demand is characterized essentially by the properties of…
The deep connection between entropy and information is discussed in terms of both classical and quantum physics. The mechanism of information transfer between systems via entanglement is explored in the context of decoherence theory. The…
This paper examines common assumptions regarding the decision-making internal environment for intelligent agents and investigates issues related to processing of memory and belief states to help obtain better understanding of the responses.…
We consider the problem of testing and learning from data in the presence of resource constraints, such as limited memory or weak data access, which place limitations on the efficiency and feasibility of testing or learning. In particular,…
In order to understand the source and extent of the greater-than-classical information processing power of quantum systems, one wants to characterize both classical and quantum mechanics as points in a broader space of possible theories.…
Since quantum mechanics (QM) was formulated, many voices have claimed this to be the basis of free will in the human beings. Basically, they argue that free will is possible because there is an ontological indeterminism in the natural laws,…
We explain the quantum structure as due to the presence of two effects, (a) a real change of state of the entity under influence of the measurement and, (b) a lack of knowledge about a deeper deterministic reality of the measurement…
Fundamental approaches bypass the problem of getting consciousness from non-conscious components by positing that consciousness is a universal primitive. For example, the double aspect theory of information holds that information has a…
Quantum theory has been proved as an outstanding mystery in modern science. The predictions of science have turned out to be probabilistic. The principle of determinism has failed. For systems like weather, earthquakes, rolling dices etc...…
We look at certain thought experiments based upon the 'delayed choice' and 'quantum eraser' interference experiments, which present a complementarity between information gathered from a quantum measurement and interference effects. It has…
It is argued that human consciousness is likely to have emerged during the self-consistent evolution of the physical universe, through the gradual accumulation of biological entities' ability to tap into the intrinsic non-deterministic…
In this paper we consider theories in which reality is described by some underlying variables. Each value these variables can take represents an ontic state (a particular state of reality). The preparation of a quantum state corresponds to…