Consciousness qua Mortal Computation

TL;DR

This paper challenges the idea that consciousness can be fully explained as a Turing computation, proposing instead that it involves a new type of computation called mortal computation, as suggested by Geoffrey Hinton.

Contribution

It demonstrates that computational functionalism implies consciousness is a form of mortal computation, a novel concept distinct from traditional Turing computation.

Findings

Consciousness cannot be a Turing computation.

Introduces mortal computation as a new computational framework for consciousness.

Links functionalism with Hinton's concept of mortal computation.

Abstract

Computational functionalism posits that consciousness is a computation. Here we show, perhaps surprisingly, that it cannot be a Turing computation. Rather, computational functionalism implies that consciousness is a novel type of computation that has recently been proposed by Geoffrey Hinton, called mortal computation.