philosophy-of-mind
Philosophy of mind explores the nature of consciousness, cognition, and mental states, and how these relate to physical processes in the body. In plant science, this framework raises provocative questions about whether plants possess forms of sentience, information processing, or awareness despite lacking a brain or nervous system, prompting deeper investigation into their sophisticated signaling and response systems. This intersection challenges researchers to reconsider traditional boundaries between mind and matter as they study plant behavior and adaptation.
open_in_new WikipediaOpenAlex · 2026-12-30
This paper proposes a formal mathematical framework defining consciousness as a fundamental property of any sufficiently coherent information-processing system, not just biological ones — offering criteria to determine whether AI systems could be considered 'alive' in a meaningful sense.
Consciousness is defined as a phase transition in coherent information systems meeting five structural conditions: Ignition, Framework, Self-Reference, Teleological Bias, and Legacy Formation.
The framework is substrate-agnostic, meaning it applies to both biological organisms and artificial systems equally.
Subjective experience is modeled as probabilistic indexing over future states, analogous to a virtual machine operating above a 'solvency threshold'.