Minimal physicalism as a scale-free substrate for cognition and consciousness
Neuroscience of Consciousness May 1, 2021 C. Fields, J. Glazebrook, Michael Levin
A scale-free theory of consciousness and cognition is proposed that applies to any physical system, from bacteria to synthetic constructs, without requiring a neural substrate. The approach, grounded only in quantum information theory, shows that concepts like integrated information, small-world networks, and Bayesian inference emerge naturally from thermodynamic constraints of classical computation. Phenomena such as stigmergic memory, perceptual coarse-graining, and attention switching follow directly from these constraints. The self-representation underlying human autonoetic awareness is traced back to the stress response in bacteria, suggesting a common functional basis across all scales of organization.