The core argument of panpsychism is that consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe, not an emergent one that requires complexity. In this view, complex systems like the brain don't generate consciousness from scratch; they simply organize fundamental consciousness in a way that allows for sophisticated behaviors like memory and self-awareness.
Related Insights
Evidence from base models suggests they are inherently more likely to report having phenomenal consciousness. The standard "I'm just an AI" response is likely a result of a fine-tuning process that explicitly trains models to deny subjective experience, effectively censoring their "honest" answer for public release.
The leading theory of consciousness, Global Workspace Theory, posits a central "stage" where different siloed information processors converge. Today's AI models generally lack this specific architecture, making them unlikely to be conscious under this prominent scientific framework.
If reality is a shared virtual experience, then physical death is analogous to a player taking off their VR headset. Their avatar in the game becomes inert, but the player—the conscious agent—is not dead. They have simply disconnected from that specific simulation. This re-frames mortality as a change in interface, not annihilation.
Evolution by natural selection is not a theory of how consciousness arose from matter. Instead, it's a theory that explains *why our interface is the way it is*. Our perceptions were shaped by fitness payoffs to help us survive *within the simulation*, not to perceive truth outside of it. The theory is valid, but its domain is the interface.
The debate over whether "true" AGI will be a monolithic model or use external scaffolding is misguided. Our only existing proof of general intelligence—the human brain—is a complex, scaffolded system with specialized components. This suggests scaffolding is not a crutch for AI, but a natural feature of advanced intelligence.
The debate over AI consciousness isn't just because models mimic human conversation. Researchers are uncertain because the way LLMs process information is structurally similar enough to the human brain that it raises plausible scientific questions about shared properties like subjective experience.
Consciousness isn't an emergent property of computation. Instead, physical systems like brains—or potentially AI—act as interfaces. Creating a conscious AI isn't about birthing a new awareness from silicon, but about engineering a system that opens a new "portal" into the fundamental network of conscious agents that already exists outside spacetime.
Physicists are finding structures beyond spacetime (e.g., amplituhedra) defined by permutations. Hoffman's theory posits these structures are the statistical, long-term behavior of a vast network of conscious agents. Physics and consciousness research are unknowingly meeting in the middle, describing the same underlying reality from opposite directions.
Our sense of self isn't an innate property but an emergent phenomenon formed from the interaction between our internal consciousness and the external language of our community (the "supermind"). This implies our identity is primarily shaped not by DNA or our individual brain, but by the collective minds and ideas we are immersed in.
Since math describes the structure of consciousness, and Gödel's theorem proves math is infinitely explorable, consciousness itself must be engaged in a never-ending exploration of its own possibilities. This provides a fundamental "why" for existence, replacing biological drives that only exist within our perceptual "headset."