Appendix: Definitions, Assumptions, Lemmas and Constraints

Definitions

D1. Consciousness is another name for bubbles of experience. A state of a consciousness is a state of a bubble of experience. Consciousness includes all of the properties that were removed from the physical world as scientists developed our modern invisible explanations (2.5).1

D2. A c-report is a physical behaviour that is interpreted as a report about a person’s consciousness (4.1).

D3. A nc-report is a physical behaviour that is interpreted as a report about non-conscious mental content (4.2).

D4. A platinum standard system is a physical system that is assumed to be associated with consciousness some or all of the time (4.3).

D5. A correlate of conscious state is a minimal set of one or more spatiotemporal structures in the physical world. This set is present when the conscious state is present and absent when the conscious state is absent. This will be referred to as a CC set (4.6).

D6. A c-description is a formal description of a conscious state (4.9).

D7. A p-description is a formal description of a spatiotemporal structure in the physical world. A p-description unambiguously determines whether a spatiotemporal structure is present in a sequence of physical states (5.1).

D8. In a natural experiment the test system preserves its status as a platinum standard. Assumptions A1-A6 remain valid and consciousness can be measured throughout the experiment (5.4).

D9. In an unnatural experiment the test system is transformed into something that is not a platinum standard. A1-A6 cease to apply and we lose our ability to measure the system’s consciousness (5.4).

D10. A c-theory is a compact expression of the relationship between consciousness and the physical world. A c-theory can generate a c-description from a p-description, and generate a p-description from a c-description (5.5).

D11. A material is an arrangement of elementary wave-particles at a particular spatial scale (6.1).

D12. A physical c-theory links consciousness to spatiotemporal patterns in materials. Physical CC sets consist of one or more patterns and the materials in which these patterns occur (6.1).

D13. An information c-theory links consciousness to spatiotemporal information patterns. Information CC sets only contain information patterns, which can occur in any material (7.2).

D14. A computation c-theory links consciousness to the execution of computations. Computation CC sets only contain computations, which can be executed by many different types of computer (8.2).

D15. A testable prediction is a c-description that is generated from a p-description or a p-description that is generated from a c-description. Predictions can be checked by measuring consciousness or they are generated from measurements of consciousness. Predictions can only be generated or confirmed on platinum standard systems during experiments on consciousness. It is only under these conditions that consciousness can be measured using assumptions A1-A6 (9.1).

D16. A deduction is a c-description that is generated from a p-description when consciousness cannot be measured. Deductions are blind logical consequences of a c-theory. They cannot be tested because assumptions A1-A6 do not apply. The plausibility of a deduction is closely tied to the reliability of the c-theory that was used to make it (9.2).

D17. A physical context is everything in a system that is not part of a CC set that is used to make a deduction. Two physical systems have the same physical context if they contain approximately the same materials and if the constant and partially correlated patterns in these materials are approximately the same (9.2).

D18. In a conservative deduction a c-theory generates a c-description from a p-description in the same physical context as the one in which the theory was tested (9.2).

D19. In a liberal deduction a c-theory generates a c-description from a p-description in a different physical context from the one in which the theory was tested (9.2).

Assumptions

A1. During an experiment on consciousness, the consciousness associated with a platinum standard system is functionally connected to the platinum standard system’s c-reports (4.3).

A2. During an experiment on consciousness all conscious states associated with a platinum standard system are available for c-report and all aspects of these states can potentially be c-reported (4.3).

A3. The consciousness associated with a platinum standard system nomologically supervenes on the platinum standard system. In our current universe, physically identical platinum standard systems are associated with indistinguishable conscious states (4.4).

A3a. The bubble of experience that is associated with a CC set nomologically supervenes on the CC set. In our current universe, physically identical CC sets are associated with indistinguishable conscious states (4.6).

A4. The normally functioning adult human brain is a platinum standard system (4.5).

A5. The physical world is e-causally closed (4.7).

A6. CC sets e-cause a platinum standard system’s c-reports (4.7).

A6a. CC sets are effectively connected to a platinum standard system’s c-reports (4.7).

A7. CC sets do not contain passive materials. If the link between consciousness and the simple presence of a material cannot be demonstrated in a natural experiment, then this material can be excluded from potential CC sets (6.4).

A8. CC sets do not contain patterns that are present when the system is conscious and unconscious. If the link between consciousness and a constant pattern cannot be demonstrated in a natural experiment, then this pattern can be excluded from potential CC sets (6.4).

A9. CC sets do not contain partially correlated patterns. When several different materials have the same spatiotemporal pattern, the material(s) in which the spatiotemporal pattern is strongest will be considered to be the potential member(s) of the CC set that is associated with the conscious state, unless the partially correlated patterns can be separated out in a natural experiment (6.4).

Lemmas

L1. There is a functional connection between a conscious state and its corresponding CC set (4.6).

Constraints

C1. The spatiotemporal structures in a CC set are independent of the observer. My consciousness is a real phenomenon that does not depend on someone else’s subjective interpretation. CC sets must be formed from objective spatiotemporal structures, such as electromagnetic waves and neuron firing patterns (5.2).

C2. The members of CC sets are intrinsic properties. A conscious state supervenes on a CC set (A3a), so each duplicate of a CC set must be associated with an identical conscious state, regardless of the spatial and temporal context in which the duplicate appears (5.2).

C3. A non-conscious system does not contain a CC set that is 100% correlated with a conscious state. If A and B are 100% correlated, then A cannot occur without B. If a CC set is 100% correlated with a conscious state, then all brains that contain that CC set will be conscious (5.2).

C4. CC sets e-cause c-reports during consciousness experiments (A6). It is not necessary for every member of a CC set to e-cause c-reports. But some parts or aspects of the CC set must e-cause them. So when I say ‘I am conscious of a green tomato’, this c-report can be traced back to the CC set that e-caused it, which is functionally connected to a bubble of experience in which there is a green tomato (5.2).

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