u/Ok_Ice_6275

I've been reading about Integrated Information Theory, and one thing keeps bothering me

IIT claims that consciousness depends on integrated information (phi), not on whether a system is biological. If that's true, doesn't it push the theory dangerously close to panpsychism? Even if Tononi doesn't explicitly endorse panpsychism, it seems like any system with a non-zero phi would have at least some degree of consciousness

So where exactly is the line? Can IIT really explain consciousness without committing to a panpsychist view, or is panpsychism basically an unavoidable consequence of the theory?

I'm curious how philosophers of mind and IIT supporters deal with this objection.

Integrated Information Theory (IIT) It’s wild. Basically, it says consciousness isn't about how smart you are, but just how much info your system integrates. They call it Phi . The crazy part is, if this is true, non-biological stuff could technically be conscious. Like, a highly complex AI or network could just wake up at some point, a lot of scientists think it's mostly sci-fi because good luck actually measuring Phi in a lab. But still, it’s a pretty cool way to think about the mind.