Two Visions of Consciousness
A 5-Dimensional Comparative Analysis of IIT and GWT
Sungchul Ji, Ph.D. (with ChatGPT assistance)
Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Cell Biology
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
1. Introduction: Mapping the Terrain of Consciousness
What is consciousness? Among the many theories proposed in recent decades, two stand out as the most influential and widely debated: Integrated Information Theory (IIT) [1] and Global Workspace Theory (GWT) [2].
While IIT begins with metaphysical commitments about the intrinsic nature of experience, GWT approaches consciousness as a cognitive function arising from neural dynamics. The question is not simply "Which is right?" but whether these two paradigms might be complementary views of a deeper reality.
To explore this, I apply the 5-Dimensional Venn-type Comparative Analysis (5VCA) [3]. a conceptual tool designed to reveal commonalities, differences, supplementarities, and complementarities between two frameworks, culminating in the identification of a possible third entity C that subsumes both A and B.
2. A 5D Comparative Analysis of Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Global Workspace Theory (GWT)
3. The Complementarity Principle [4] Revisited
In light of the revised definition of complementarity:
C(C): A and B are complementary aspects of a third entity C.
C appears as A (IIT) or B (GWT) depending on the method of observation or explanatory lens.
This implies that Reality (C) may manifest either as intrinsic causal structure (IIT) or functional cognitive broadcasting (GWT), contingent upon whether the inquiry emphasizes ontology (what consciousness is) or functionality (what consciousness does).
4. Toward a Meta-Theory of Consciousness?
If IIT and GWT are not rivals but tokens of a deeper type—what Peirce might call a Thirdness—then the path forward may lie in developing a meta-theory that synthesizes their strengths without collapsing their distinct explanatory domains.
This synthesis could be framed within broader models such as:
Peircean semiotics (Sign–Object–Interpretant) [5]
Geometry of Reality (GOR) (Matter–Mind–Spirit axes)
Gnergy theory (Energy + Information + Agency)
Or a future theory of IRVSE-based consciousness (Iterative Reproduction with Variation + Selection by Environment)
5. Conclusion
Both IIT and GWT offer powerful yet partial insights into consciousness. Viewed through the lens of 5VCA, they emerge not as competitors, but as complementary projections of a richer, triadic reality—one that requires both structure and function, both integration and global access, to be fully understood.
Let us not ask which theory is right—but rather how both might be aspects of a higher unity still waiting to be discovered.
References:
[1] Integrated Information Theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_information_theory
[2] Global workspace theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_workspace_theory
[3] Ji, S. (2025). Transcendence and immanence. https://622622.substack.com/p/transcendence-and-immanence
[4] Complementarity (physics). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complementarity_(physics)
[5] Semiotic theory of Charles Sanders Peirce. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotic_theory_of_Charles_Sanders_Peirce
[6] Consciousness as Geometry. https://622622.substack.com/p/consciousness-as-geometry