Head to head
Higher-Order Thought Theory vs Seth’s Beast Machine Theory
Rosenthal’s Higher-Order Thought and Seth’s “Beast Machine” Theory, compared field by field from their entries in the Atlas.
At a glance
- Both belong to the Materialism family in Kuhn's Landscape of Consciousness.
- Both treat consciousness as emergent.
- They give the same kind of answer on life after death and meaning and purpose.
- On AI consciousness, Higher-Order Thought Theory says “Possible” and Seth’s Beast Machine Theory says “Likely”.
- On mind uploading, Higher-Order Thought Theory says “Possible” and Seth’s Beast Machine Theory says “Yes”.
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The claim
In brief
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.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryThis theory posits that conscious experiences, including perceptions of the world and the self, are forms of brain-based perceptual prediction, metaphorically termed 'controlled hallucinations' . It roots the mechanism of consciousness in the fundamental biological imperative to regulate bodily physiology in order to stay alive .
What consciousness is
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.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryConsciousness is identified as forms of brain-based perceptual prediction, where phenomenological properties are explained by the computational aspects of different forms of prediction .
Big questions
Can AI be conscious?Differ
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.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryLikelyAs a materialist theory focusing on computational and information-processing mechanisms (perceptual prediction) , AI systems that instantiate similar complex mechanisms should be capable of achieving consciousness .
Does consciousness survive death?Both agree
Higher-Order Thought TheoryNoConscious states are natural states of an organism, so nothing remains conscious once those states stop occurring.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryNoConsciousness is a product of biological brains and complex, physically instantiated predictive machinery . The death of the brain leads to the irrevocable and permanent non-existence of personal consciousness .
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.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryYesIf consciousness is entirely explicable by the computational processes of the brain , then, in principle, the first-person mental self could be duplicated and instantiated in a non-biological substrate, enabling virtual immortality .
Does it give life meaning?Both agree
Higher-Order Thought TheoryHumanistic onlyThe theory is a naturalistic account of mental states and carries no cosmic purpose.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryHumanistic onlyCategorized as a Materialism Theory, it implies no ultimate or cosmic meaning or purpose, although it supports human-created meaning and value derived from individual agency and experience .
Nature of mind
Ontology
Higher-Order Thought TheoryPhysicalism (naturalistic functionalism)
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryPhysicalism / Materialism (Justified by its classification under Materialism Theories and its reliance on biological and computational explanations) .
Mind and body
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.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryConscious experiences are entirely brain-based and physically instantiated . The model supports a strong correlation or identity theory, where conscious properties arise from the physiological and computational architecture geared toward bodily regulation .
Fundamental or emergent
Higher-Order Thought TheoryEmergent
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryEmergent
Qualia
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.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryThe phenomenological properties of conscious experiences are explained by the computational aspects of the different forms of perceptual prediction utilized by the brain .
How it works
Mechanism
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.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryConsciousness is explained through predictive processing, where the brain generates a constant 'best guess' (prediction) of the causes of its sensory inputs . This mechanism is intrinsically tied to the regulation of bodily physiology .
Where it is
Higher-Order Thought TheoryNot stated
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryLocated in the biological brain, tied to the predictive machinery that regulates bodily physiology .
What it does
Higher-Order Thought TheoryNot stated
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryConsciousness has a functional role tied to survival . It facilitates the regulation of bodily physiology and allows the organism to model, predict, and simulate the causes of sensory inputs .
Evidence and criticism
Testability
Higher-Order Thought TheoryConceptually testable
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryEmpirically testable (Inferred, as the theory relies on concepts within the neurobiological and computational fields which emphasize development, testing, and comparison of theories) .
Tests so far
Higher-Order Thought TheoryNot stated
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryTests involving predictive processing accounts of brain perception, cognition, and action (Justified: Specific named tests are not provided, but the theory is explicitly positioned within the predictive processing framework) .
Criticisms
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.
Seth’s Beast Machine TheoryNot explicitly detailed in the source, but generally subject to the tension inherent in deflationary accounts of consciousness .
Sources
Key sources
Higher-Order Thought Theory
- Rosenthal’s Higher-Order Thought, Landscape of Consciousness, David Rosenthal (2005)
Seth’s Beast Machine Theory
- Being You: A New Science of Consciousness, Anil Seth (2021)
- Theories of consciousness, Anil Seth and Tim Bayne (2022)