The why of the phenomenal aspect of consciousness: Its main functions and the mechanisms underpinning it

Conscious information processing is distinguished by its phenomenal aspect (PAC), the what-it-is-like for an agent to experience something, which provides a sense of self and informs how the self is affected by the agent's own operations. The PAC originates from attention detecting the state of the self (S), a hierarchy of innate and acquired values expressed via the nervous system that maps the agent's body, cognitive capacities, and environmental interactions. This detection modulates the energy level of the organ of attention (OA), its neural substrate, generating the PAC. The PAC has five dimensions—qualitative, quantitative, hedonic, temporal, and spatial—each traceable to a specific feature of that modulation.

Study at a glance

Abstract

What distinguishes conscious information processing from other kinds of information processing is its phenomenal aspect (PAC), the-what-it-is-like for an agent to experience something. The PAC supplies the agent with a sense of self, and informs the agent on how its self is affected by the agent’s own operations. The PAC originates from the activity that attention performs to detect the state of what I define “the self” (S). S is centered and develops on a hierarchy of innate and acquired values, and is primarily expressed via the central and peripheral nervous systems; it maps the agent’s body and cognitive capacities, and its interactions with the environment. The detection of the state of S by attention modulates the energy level of the organ of attention (OA), i.e., the neural substrate that underpins attention. This modulation generates the PAC. The PAC can be qualified according to five dimensions: qualitative, quantitative, hedonic, temporal and spatial. Each dimension can be traced back to a specific feature of the modulation of the energy level of the OA.