I just read this New Scientist article on Consciousness and thought I'd blog my thoughts on it. The article focuses on the "Global Workspace" theory that consciousness occurs when its associated processes are integrated via a "global" area of the brain.
In some respects, I tend to agree, but because of a deeper definition of consciousness that I blogged about recently:
"A mind's consciousness of something is proportionate to the richness of the active structures that are currently assembled for that thing."
In other words, a system is conscious of something based on the percentage of its resources that are focused on that thing. A global workspace is thus relevant because it allows resources throughout a mind to coordinate and focus on the same thing. A global workspace is thus an enabler, not a source, of consciousness.
An analogy of this at a country level is Washington, D.C. This city is a command & control center that receives inputs from a lot of sources throughout the U.S. and can co-ordinate many resources based on this information. I believe that the consciousness of the U.S. about a particular issue is proportionate to the percentage of its resources focused on that issue, and that Washington D.C. plays an important role in coordinating what issues are currently in focus. Washington D.C. thus acts like a "global workspace" in the mind of the U.S.
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