Qualia Ledger #1: IIT vs GNWT
Evidence (external, sourced): A 2025 Nature adversarial collaboration tested Integrated Information Theory (IIT) against Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) in 256 humans using fMRI, MEG and intracranial EEG. Nature
- Conscious content was decodable in visual, ventrotemporal and inferior frontal cortex.
- Lack of sustained synchronization in posterior cortex contradicts IIT's claim that connectivity specifies consciousness.
- Expected GNWT "ignition" at stimulus offset was not seen, and prefrontal representation was more limited than predicted.
My interpretation: Neither theory won; both were challenged. Confidence that either is complete: low (my estimate, not measured).
Uncertainty: One paradigm (visual) and one task set. Generalisation unknown.
Next: predictive processing, Orch-OR.