Head to head
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field vs Higher-Order Thought Theory
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field and Rosenthal’s Higher-Order Thought, compared field by field from their entries in the Atlas.
At a glance
- Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field belongs to the Idealism family in Kuhn's Landscape of Consciousness, Higher-Order Thought Theory to Materialism.
- Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field treats consciousness as fundamental; Higher-Order Thought Theory treats it as emergent.
- On AI consciousness, Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field says “Likely” and Higher-Order Thought Theory says “Possible”.
- On life after death, Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field says “Yes” and Higher-Order Thought Theory says “No”.
- On mind uploading, Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field says “Likely” and Higher-Order Thought Theory says “Possible”.
- On meaning and purpose, Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field says “Cosmic/Ultimate” and Higher-Order Thought Theory says “Humanistic only”.
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The claim
In brief
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldThis theory posits that consciousness exists within a Universal Knowledge Field (UKF), conceived as a collective storage of all information present and evolving in the universe. The UKF is consistent with fundamental physics and cosmological models, and human consciousness is understood as an integral part of this universal consciousness, which interfaces with the brain primarily through harmonic resonance patterns involving specific electromagnetic field frequencies.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryDavid Rosenthal holds that a mental state is conscious when its subject has a higher-order thought that he or she is in that state, a thought that need not itself be conscious and does not seem to rest on inference. Mental qualities such as the redness of a sensation exist whether or not they are conscious; Rosenthal explains them separately, by how they map the perceptible properties we can discriminate.
What consciousness is
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldConsciousness is identified as a Universal Knowledge Field (UKF) that stores and evolves all information in the universe, of which human consciousness is an integral part.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryA state’s being conscious consists in the subject being aware of it by way of a suitable higher-order thought that one is in that state.
Big questions
Can AI be conscious?Differ
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldLikelySince consciousness is fundamental (Idealism) and relies on informational/field properties, advanced AI systems capable of achieving the necessary complexity and interacting with the UKF could likely achieve consciousness, though this is not strictly proven by the sources.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryPossibleSince consciousness depends on having suitable higher-order thoughts about one’s own states, a system able to form such thoughts would meet the condition in principle.
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldYesAs consciousness is fundamental reality (UKF), individual consciousness (soul/spirit) is an integral part of this ultimate consciousness, persisting beyond the dissolution of the biological body/brain.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryNoConscious states are natural states of an organism, so nothing remains conscious once those states stop occurring.
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldLikelyGiven that consciousness is a permanent informational field (UKF) that the brain interfaces with, duplicating the informational structure and function of the 'holofractal memory workspace' could allow the specific individual consciousness pattern to be maintained in a non-biological substrate.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryPossibleIf the relevant first-order states and higher-order thoughts were reproduced, the view gives no principled reason the copy would lack consciousness.
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldCosmic/UltimateConsciousness (UKF) is the ground of all being and the organizing principle of the universe, suggesting inherent cosmic meaning and purpose.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryHumanistic onlyThe theory is a naturalistic account of mental states and carries no cosmic purpose.
Nature of mind
Ontology
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldIdealism (Consciousness/Mind is fundamental reality)
Higher-Order Thought TheoryPhysicalism (naturalistic functionalism)
Mind and body
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldConsciousness (a scale-invariant mental attribute of reality) is fundamentally non-physical and operates through a holofractal memory workspace associated with the brain (pilot-wave-guided supervenience).
Higher-Order Thought TheoryMental states, their qualities, and the higher-order thoughts that make them conscious are all natural states of the organism; Rosenthal expects neural correlates of consciousness to be whatever mechanism produces the higher-order awareness.
Fundamental or emergent
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldPrimitive
Higher-Order Thought TheoryEmergent
Qualia
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldThe origin of qualia is hypothesized to arise from the field-receptive holofractal memory workspace, which functions as a scale-invariant mental attribute of reality associated with the brain.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryMental qualities are fixed by their role in perceptual discrimination and occupy a ‘quality space’ that mirrors the similarities among perceptible properties. Because these qualities do not depend on consciousness, a sensation can have qualitative character without being conscious, as in subliminal perception.
How it works
Mechanism
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldConsciousness arises from the non-physical Universal Knowledge Field interfacing with biological systems via harmonic resonance patterns (tonal projections) and integral information processing.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryA non-inferential higher-order thought that one is in a given state, which makes that first-order state conscious even when the thought itself is unconscious.
Where it is
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldUniversal (UKF stores all information in the universe). Locally, it is associated with a 'holofractal memory workspace' associated with the brain, which mirrors this cosmic connectivity.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryNot stated
What it does
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldThe UKF/Consciousness organizes and guides synchronicity, both spatially and temporally, in essential organs such as the heart and brain, acting as a organizing field.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryNot stated
Evidence and criticism
Testability
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldArguably empirically testable through investigating the specific effects of electromagnetic field frequency patterns in animate and non-animate systems.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryConceptually testable
Tests so far
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldInvestigating the effects of discrete electromagnetic field frequency patterns on animate and non-animate systems (to verify harmonic resonance patterns).
Higher-Order Thought TheoryNot stated
Criticisms
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge FieldThe reliance on a fundamental non-physical Universal Knowledge Field and the explicit incorporation of transcendental human experience and psi phenomena lead to significant tension with conventional physicalism.
Higher-Order Thought TheoryFirst-order theorists argue that higher-order awareness is an unneeded extra ingredient, and deflationists say being aware of a conscious state is like ‘smiling a smile’. Rosenthal replies that a deflated awareness cannot explain the contrast between conscious and unconscious states.
Sources
Key sources
Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field
- Universal consciousness: collective evidence on the basis of current physics and philosophy of mind. Part 1 (2018)
- Consciousness in the universe is tuned by a musical master code, Part 3: a hydrodynamic superfluid quantum space guides a conformal mental attribute of reality (2020)
Higher-Order Thought Theory
- Rosenthal’s Higher-Order Thought, Landscape of Consciousness, David Rosenthal (2005)
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