An icebreaker
A neuroscientist proposed measuring consciousness itself with a single number, arguing any system integrating enough information has some degree of experience. In 2023 over a hundred researchers publicly labeled the theory pseudoscience; other scientists pushed back just as publicly.
He proposed in the early 2000s that consciousness corresponds mathematically to a system's integrated information, later publishing a formal reply to the 2023 pseudoscience letter defending the theory's testable predictions and clinical applications.
He worked closely with Tononi to extend and popularize the theory over two decades, while also publicly conceding, after a long-running bet with a philosopher, that no neural signature of consciousness had been found by the deadline either side had set.
He called the pseudoscience accusation serious and unjustified by the letter, and argued in a 2023 essay that bold theories have a right to be wrong, while not endorsing all of the theory himself.
He co-signed the September 2023 open letter, joined by roughly 124 researchers, arguing the theory had been overstated in media coverage as a tested, leading account of consciousness without matching empirical support.