Qualia & Natural Selection: Formal Constraints on the Evolution of Consciousness

TL;DR

This paper establishes formal conditions under which natural selection can produce consistent effects in the realm of qualia, using information theory and the Price Equation to constrain theories of consciousness.

Contribution

It introduces formal, information-theoretic constraints on how structural systems under natural selection relate to qualia, advancing the theoretical understanding of consciousness evolution.

Findings

Derived formal conditions for qualia transmission under natural selection

Developed measures of mutual determinability between structure and quality

Established bounds on the transmission of higher-order structures between domains

Abstract

This paper explores foundational questions about the relationship of qualia to natural selection. The primary result is a derivation of specific formal conditions under which structural systems subject to natural selection can convey consistent effects in an associated qualitative domain, placing theoretical and empirical constraints on theories of consciousness. In order to achieve this result, information-theoretic measures are developed to quantify the mutual determinability between structure and quality, quantifying fidelity between the two domains. The fidelities represented by that space are then incorporated into the Price Equation to yield key bounds on the transmission of selective effects between domains. Finally, transmission of higher-order structures between domains is explored. Placement within a broader philosophical context can be found in the companion paper Structure & Quality.