The QBIT Theory of Consciousness

Majid Beshkar

doi:10.20944/preprints201905.0352.v4

Preprint Article Version 4 This version is not peer-reviewed

The QBIT Theory of Consciousness

Version 1 : Received: 26 May 2019 / Approved: 29 May 2019 / Online: 29 May 2019 (11:53:48 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 21 June 2019 / Approved: 21 June 2019 / Online: 21 June 2019 (11:22:39 CEST)
Version 3 : Received: 21 July 2019 / Approved: 23 July 2019 / Online: 23 July 2019 (10:32:33 CEST)
Version 4 : Received: 23 August 2019 / Approved: 15 October 2019 / Online: 15 October 2019 (08:14:14 CEST)
Version 5 : Received: 9 October 2019 / Approved: 14 October 2019 / Online: 14 October 2019 (09:53:26 CEST)

How to cite: Beshkar, M. The QBIT Theory of Consciousness. Preprints 2019, 2019050352 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201905.0352.v4). Beshkar, M. The QBIT Theory of Consciousness. Preprints 2019, 2019050352 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201905.0352.v4).

Abstract

The QBIT theory is an attempt toward solving the problem of consciousness based on empirical evidence provided by various scientific disciplines including quantum mechanics, biology, information theory, and thermodynamics. This theory formulates the problem of consciousness in the following four questions, and provides preliminary answers for each question: Question 1: What is the nature of qualia? Answer: A quale is a superdense pack of quantum information encoded in maximally entangled pure states. Question 2: How are qualia generated? Answer: When a pack of quantum information is compressed beyond a certain threshold, a quale is generated. Question 3: Why are qualia subjective? Answer: A quale is subjective because a pack of information encoded in maximally entangled pure states are essentially private and unshareable. Question 4: Why does a quale have a particular meaning? Answer: A pack of information within a cognitive system gradually obtains a particular meaning as it undergoes a progressive process of interpretation performed by an internal model installed in the system.This paper introduces the QBIT theory of consciousness, and explains its basic assumptions and conjectures.

Subject Areas

Coherence; Compression; Computation; Consciousness; Entanglement; Free-energy principle; Generative model; Information; Qualia; Quantum; Representation

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF

Comments (2)

Comment 1

Received: 26 August 2019
Commenter: Majid Beshkar
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author

Comment: This is a revised and more complete version of the QBIT theory of consciousness.

+ Respond to this comment

Comment 2

Received: 15 October 2019
Commenter: Majid Beshkar
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author

Comment: This is a revised and more complete version of the QBIT theory of consciousness.

+ Respond to this comment

Your full name

Your affiliation information (e.g., name of your university/institution/organization)

Not displayed online.

Your Email address (not made public)

Please leave your comment to this article below.

Mathematical equations can be typed in either LaTeX formats \\[ ... \\] or $$ ... $$, or MathML format <math> ... </math>. Try the LaTeX or MathML example.

Type equation:

Preview:

Copy equation into message below

Close menu

Please click a symbol to insert it into the message box below:

Please enter the link here:

Optionally, you can enter text that should appear as linked text:

Copy link into message below

Close menu

Please enter or paste the URL to the image here (please only use links to jpg/jpeg, png and gif images):

Copy image into message below

Close menu

Type author name or keywords to filter the list of references in this group (you can add a new citation under Bibliography):

No existing citations in Discussion Group

Wikify editor is a simple editor for wiki-style mark-up. It was written by MDPI for Sciforum in 2014. The rendering of the mark-up is based on Wiky.php with some tweaks. Rendering of mathematical equations is done with MathJax. Please send us a message for support or for reporting bugs.

Close menu

Please declare any conflicts of interest you may have with this paper, financial or otherwise.

I do not have a conflict of interest

I would like to declare a conflict of interest

Display my name on the website I want to get recognition for my comment on Publons

[what’s this?]. Link your accounts here

Captcha

I accept the following conditions:

Comments must follow the standards of professional discourse and should focus on the scientific content of the article. Insulting or offensive language, personal attacks and off-topic remarks will not be permitted. Comments must be written in English. Preprints reserves the right to remove comments without notice. Readers who post comments are obliged to declare any competing interests, financial or otherwise.

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)

Get PDF Cite Share

Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious Publons

Alerts

Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.