Inquiring Minds Understanding and Expanding Consciousness with Dr. Christof Koch
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May 7, 2024 
Neuroscientist Christof Koch discusses expanding consciousness, brain-brain interfaces, shared consciousness, unified empathy, free will, and collaboration in science with Indre. They explore merging minds, empathizing with diverse beings, decision-making, and the impact of profound experiences on personal transformations.
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Near-Death Moment That Shattered The Self
- Christof Koch described a near-death state with only a bright light, terror, and ecstasy present.
- He said the experience showed consciousness can persist without a self and that the self is optional.
Consciousness As Integrated Causal Structure
- Integrated Information Theory (IIT) treats consciousness as an intrinsic, irreducible causal structure, not a computation.
- IIT assigns a number (phi) that quantifies how irreducible and integrated a system's causal power is.
How IIT Connects Phenomenology To Physics
- IIT defines consciousness by properties like specificity, unity, and a bordered structure that feels like something.
- The theory links those phenomenological properties to a substrate's causal power and yields the phi measure.