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TY - GEN ID - cogprints2547 UR - http://cogprints.org/2547/ A1 - Gabora, Liane Y1 - 1999/10// N2 - Fundamental approaches bypass the problem of getting consciousness from non-conscious components by positing that consciousness is a universal primitive. For example, the double aspect theory of information holds that information has a phenomenal aspect. How then do you get from phenomenal information to human consciousness? This paper proposes that an entity is conscious to the extent it amplifies information, first by trapping and integrating it through closure, and second by maintaining dynamics at the edge of chaos through simultaneous processes of divergence and convergence. The origin of life through autocatalytic closure, and the origin of an interconnected worldview through conceptual closure, induced phase transitions in the degree to which information, and thus consciousness, is locally amplified. Divergence and convergence of cognitive information may involve phenomena observed in light e.g. focusing, interference, and resonance. By making information flow inward-biased, closure shields us from external consciousness; thus the paucity of consciousness may be an illusion. PB - Imprint Academic KW - abstract thought KW - amplification KW - closure KW - combination problem KW - concept KW - consciousness KW - context KW - double aspect theory KW - edge of chaos KW - episodic mind KW - focus KW - holographic memory KW - information KW - interference KW - light KW - modern mind KW - origin of life KW - panpsychism KW - phase transition KW - quantum mechanics KW - resonance KW - superposition KW - symbolic threshold. TI - Amplifying Phenomenal Information: Toward a Fundamental Theory of Consciousness SP - 3 AV - public EP - 29 ER -