This paper has a similar problem with Tonini's in that it tries to relate consciousness to a mathematical concept without giving a definition of consciousness that would allow for a proof. Tonini also did not give a consistent definition of integrated information either, but I am not familiar enough with Segal category theory to tell if there is the same problem with Gauthier's paper. Tonini at least offers some motivation for his theory, but it is not clear to me how consciousness relates to thickened cone towers.
Gauthier states at the end of the paper that consciousness is not possible without free will, which seems reasonable to me. He defines free will as acting spontaneously rather than deterministically. Then he concludes from his theory that it makes no difference whether things are deterministic or not (which I agree with). Thus, his theory undermines the very existence of consciousness. I agree but for a different reason. It is not possible in general to tell if an agent is deterministic or random, as proved by Kolmogorov. An agent making decisions based on the output of an iterated cryptographic hash function like SHA-256 with a secret key would appear to be random as far as you could tell. Consciousness (type 2, inner self awareness) and free will still require explanations. The only evidence we have for their existence is our own feelings. Feelings come from neurons firing. We feel good about thinking and doing things because it motivates us to not lose those feelings by dying. This results in more offspring. Our illusion of free will comes from our tendency to rationalize our deterministic actions, to find reasons for doing what we did and ignore reasons why we should have done differently. Our actions seem to be random because, by Wolpert's law, you cannot always predict your own actions. Otherwise you could do the opposite of your predictions. -- Matt Mahoney, [email protected] On Sat, Feb 14, 2026, 10:09 AM John Rose via AGI <[email protected]> wrote: > Argues for both utilizing categories, which is a trend, > > "...consciousness as we understand it appears as a particular filter on > pure consciousness." > ... > "We argue there is actually no contradiction in having this picture in > mind, and that we can actually have both concepts coexisting." > > https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.06192 > *Artificial General Intelligence List <https://agi.topicbox.com/latest>* > / AGI / see discussions <https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi> + > participants <https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/members> + > delivery options <https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/subscription> > Permalink > <https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/Td94236ee8c040564-M48b1ef0f876d0e769e8feb9c> > ------------------------------------------ Artificial General Intelligence List: AGI Permalink: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/Td94236ee8c040564-Mfb764d9b278b454ba0cb10bf Delivery options: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/subscription
