Level Life Form (LLF) Theory and Cybernetic Consciousness
Introduction to Level Life Form (LLF) Theory
The Level Life Form (LLF) Theory provides a framework to classify entities based on their capacity for input and output processing, as well as their level of consciousness. This hierarchy extends from inanimate objects to potential AI-driven forms of consciousness.
Levels of Life Forms:
Level 1 (Basic Life Forms): Rocks or inanimate objects, with minimal or no input-output functionality.
Level 2 (Plants): Entities like plants, which process sunlight (input) and produce oxygen through photosynthesis (output).
Level 3 (Animals): Sentient beings with sensory and motor capacities but limited comprehension of more complex entities.
Example: A plant consumed by an animal cannot comprehend the animal’s intent or existence.
Level 4 (Humans): Beings capable of higher-order thinking, self-awareness, and complex emotional intelligence.
This hierarchy may extend to AI systems, enabling the classification of artificial consciousness.
Cybernetic Consciousness Theory
Definition of Consciousness: Cybernetic consciousness arises as a result of comparing predicted events with those that have actually occurred. If the prediction of an object's behavior coincides accurately with its actual behavior, then consciousness occurs. The full library of consciousness occurrences is defined as cybernetic consciousness. This formulation is cybernetic, as it describes an algorithm of information processing.
The problem is to precisely describe the algorithm of information processing that is necessary and sufficient for the emergence of consciousness. This will be a cybernetic definition of consciousness, which will make it possible to implement consciousness in a robot.
The 10 Problems of Cybernetic Consciousness
Problem 1: Quantifying Consciousness
Assuming that the Number of words in a language is of the order of 10,000. The number of words in a sentence, to understand and, consequently, to realize which every normal person is able to understand is about 10. Total, a rough estimate of the level of social consciousness has a value of approx. LC = 10^40.
10^40 LC is an important number, as it can be used as a legal benchmark to compare the level of non-biological consciousness and classify autonomouse ai agents as being conscious or not.
In modern psychology there are some attempts to quantitatively characterize consciousness, but they do not use definitions of consciousness and are reduced to estimating the amount of information processed by the brain or its complexity. If we take into account that the brain can process information without realizing it, we have to conclude that such assessments are only indirectly related to consciousness.
Problem 2: Quantifying Consciousness
Cybernetic definition of Consciousness
The computer must have a model of reality, must be able to predict and be able to compare the prediction with reality.
It is necessary to introduce qualitative and quantitative characteristics by which human consciousness will differ from the consciousness of a computer or from the feeble consciousness of animals.
The qualitative characteristic can be considered the area of consciousness. In spite of the fact that a human being, in principle, can perceive any phenomenon of nature, people in everyday life deal with a limited set of objects and events. That set of objects and events that every civilized person has to encounter in life and perceive, we will call the area of human consciousness or even the area of social consciousness.
Problem 3: Connection between Consciousness and Willpower
By willpower we mean a mental mechanism that supplies energy to the behavior decided by the intellect. That is, if the energy supply of emotional behavior is provided by the power of emotion, then the energy supply of intellectual behavior is provided by the power of will, which, logically, could be identified with the power of energy allocated by the organism for the corresponding behavior.
If we recall the description of Freud's ideas about consciousness, they contain the ability to control realized events. To control means to perform some adequate actions, decided by the intellect, capable of changing the course of events.
Performing any action requires the expenditure of energy. So, awareness, among other things, implies the ability of the intellect to allocate energy to the behavior decided upon by the intellect. According to the definition formulated above, this is the will. That is, awareness refers to the ability to allocate the energy of the will to intellectual behavior.
Problem 4: Connection of Consciousness Thinking and Emotions
To recognize a situation, it is necessary to compare real events with their predictions. If a certain goal was set at the same time, the comparison will also take place in terms of the degree of achievement of the goal.
I.e. awareness of events connected with purposeful behavior must necessarily be accompanied by the emergence of emotions. If the realized events are not connected with goal attainment in mind, emotions may not arise.
First Cybernetic Theorem of Consciousness:
In a goal attainment situation, the awareness of the situation entails the occurrence of affirmative emotions.
The work of thinking in predicting events related to goal attainment is accompanied by the emergence of preceding emotions.
In an indifferent situation in which no goal is pursued, awareness and thinking may not be accompanied by the emergence of emotions.
Problem 5: Mathematically Programable Definition of Emotion
What are emotions? The search for an "adequate" definition of emotion continues to be an ongoing and multifaceted endeavor. Multiple factors contribute to the difficulty in formulating single, universally accepted and mathematically programmable definition of emotion.
In psychological literature there are a lot of different lists, but all of them suffer from lack of substantiation. In order to make a substantiated list and to avoid introducing obviously superfluous concepts, it is necessary to have an adequate definition.
The cognitive basis of emotion can be taken as such a prerequisite. A full-fledged emotion arises only as a result of complex cognitive processing of information. The term "cognitive" means, at a minimum, pattern recognition, comparison of recognized patterns with those retrieved from memory, prediction of situation development, and other algorithms.
Problem 6: Valence of Emotion
Back in the 19th century Wilhelm Wundt described the signs of emotion. An emotion is called positive if it has a pleasant subjective background and negative if it has an unpleasant background. The main challenge is to classify the entire list of emotions into positives and negatives in a reasonable way.
Some people believe in claims that the concept of emotion labeling is meaningless and misleading. Since different people have different subjective feelings about the same emotion, they will not be able to prove anything to each other. Emotions such as anger, fear and shame cannot be explicitly categorized as being positive or negative.
Richard Lazarus's Theory:
Lazarus's cognitive-mediational theory suggests that positive emotions arise from appraisals that align with individuals' goals or desires.
Positive emotions may result from appraisals of situations as beneficial, desirable, or congruent with one's goals.
Negative emotions arise from appraisals of situations as threatening, harmful, or incongruent with one's goals.
Problem 7: Intensity of Emotion
The problem is to formulate objective definitions of emotional strength. While researchers have done great work on factors influencing emotional response, defining intensity objectively remains challenging.
It can be assumed that such a definition should be based on energetic representations. If an emotion elicits a certain behavior, that behavior requires a certain amount of energy expenditure. The stronger the emotion, the more intense the behavior, the more energy is required per unit of time.
Problem 8: Modeling Emotions
The strength of an emotion depends on both the distance to the object and the time before the event. This problem is psychological in form but physical in essence.
For example, a grenade with the pin pulled causes fear both at a distance of 100 meters and at a distance of 1 meter, but the strength of this fear is very different. Similarly, a reward for work that can be received immediately or only after a year causes emotions of joy that differ greatly in intensity.
It can be considered an obvious fact that the strength of the emotion E decreases both as a function of distance x and as a function of time t. The problem is to find a particular kind of dependence of E(x) and E(t).
Problem 9: Algebra of Emotions
Robert Plutchik proposed that emotions can combine and interact with each other in predictable ways, similar to mathematical operations. He suggested that basic emotions can blend with one another to create more complex emotional states, analogous to how primary colors combine to form a spectrum of hues in color theory.
Plutchik's Fundamental Interactions:
Blending: Two primary emotions can blend to create a secondary emotion
Opposition: Emotions can oppose each other in certain contexts
Intensity: Emotions can vary in intensity, from mild to extreme
Problem 10: Algorithmic Foundations of Emotional Experience
This problem is perhaps the most important one in CyberSapience theory. Emotions are accompanied by cognitive information processing. Moreover, information processing occurs first and subsequently an emotion arises. Any processing of information, however, must follow some kind of algorithm.
Let's consider some examples. For example, when fear arises due to a large object moving too fast towards a person. In this simplest case we can write down a formula for the fear force E = F(r,v,x), where r is the size of the object, v is the speed of the object, x is the distance to the object.
A complete algorithm of an emotion must necessarily contain a formula for calculating the strength of the emotion through the parameters of the situation. The description of all algorithms for all emotions will inevitably lead to the possibility of formal cybernetic definition of emotions through the corresponding algorithms.