consciousness based on information or computation?

From: Wei Dai <weidai.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 01:48:07 -0800

Is consciousness based on information or computation? Let me give an
example to explain what I mean. Suppose there is a computer running an AI
program. Assuming computationalism, this computation should contribute to
the measure on conscious experiences. Now suppose there are two computers
independently running two identical AI programs with the same inputs. This
should make twice as much contribution to the consciousness measure.

But now suppose there is one computer running an AI program, and a second
computer that makes a copy of the first computer's state after every
operation. My question is how much contribution to the consciousness
measure does this setup make, compared to the single computer setup? If
consciousness is based on computation, then it makes the same
contribution, since there is just one instance of the AI computation being
run. But if consciousness is based on information, then it makes twice as
much contribution, since there are two copies of the AI's state at any
given time.

So which is it?
Received on Thu Jan 14 1999 - 01:50:28 PST