Consciousness, Metacausation and Metadynamism

Explore a thought-provoking conference talk on consciousness, metacausation, and metadynamism presented by John Barnden from the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham. Delve into the concept of pre-reflective auto-sensitivity (PRAS) and its relation to phenomenal consciousness. Examine the argument that conscious processes require direct causal sensitivity to their own inner causation, introducing the idea of metacausation. Investigate the speaker's radical proposal of redefining causation as microphysical dynamism and the introduction of metadynamism as a new level of dynamic interaction. Learn how these concepts might enrich existing consciousness theories like Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR). Gain insights into the initial steps towards formalizing metadynamism and its potential implications for our understanding of consciousness.

John Barnden - Consciousness, metacausation and metadynamism