Integrated Predictive Workspace Theory: Towards a Unified Framework for the Science of Consciousness

TL;DR: Consciousness is the synergistic information that emerges within a workspace instance, driven by predictive coding and free energy principle.

For technical applications and sociological unit tests of this research, please refer to Chain://.

The nascent form of this theoretical framework was initially developed as a foundational setting for the science fiction world-building project "Chain://". This project is dedicated to exploring the profound impacts that the core concept of Formalized Realism might trigger at social, technological, and philosophical levels. In the process of constructing the inherent logic and operating rules for the "Chain://" universe, we gradually refined and formalized the core ideas of this framework. Therefore, the birth of this research is inseparable from the vast imaginative space and rigorous logical deduction requirements provided by science fiction creation. We extend our sincere gratitude to all artificial intelligence systems involved in this cross-disciplinary exploration, as it was this clash of ideas that gave rise to the possibility of transforming fictional world settings into serious scientific theories.