The Consciousness Atlas is an interactive web app that visualizes more
than 450 theories of consciousness. It is based on Robert Lawrence
Kuhn's 2024 paper,
"A Landscape of Consciousness". The Atlas maps theories that address phenomenal consciousness - the
subjective feel of experience, such as the redness of red.
What the Atlas is
The Atlas is a visual reference built on Kuhn's taxonomy. It presents
the full set of theories at once so you can explore the field visually
and open any theory to read its entry, like an encyclopedia with
structured entries. Each theory entry shows a concise identity line,
conceptual ground, suggested mechanism, empirical notes, implications,
and sources.
Why this exists
Consciousness is studied across disciplines - neuroscience,
philosophy, and sometimes spiritual or anomalous-state research.
Kuhn's paper collects and organizes hundreds of theories along a
spectrum from most physical to least physical. The Atlas puts that
organization into a visual form so readers, students, and researchers
can quickly see how different positions relate and where each theory
sits on the spectrum.
How it works
Theories are grouped into ten main categories, arranged by their
stance on the physical-to-nonphysical spectrum. Examples of categories
include Materialism, Non-Reductive Physicalism, Functionalism,
Quantum-based theories, Panpsychism, Monism, Dualism, Idealism,
Anomalous States, and Challenge Theories. The app shows the whole map
at once. Click any theory to read its structured entry, which includes
references to canonical sources and named thinkers.
Who it is for
- Students learning philosophy of mind and cognitive science
-
Researchers and lecturers looking for an at-a-glance comparative
resource
-
Journalists and writers who need a quick reference to the range of
positions
-
Curious readers who want a clear view of what people mean when they
talk about consciousness
What the Atlas does not do
The Atlas does not endorse or rank theories. It is a visualization and
reference based on Kuhn's taxonomy - collect and present, not judge.
It does not attempt to settle the hard problem of consciousness. It is
a tool for exploration and comparison.
A note from Kuhn
Kuhn explicitly states the project's purpose: "collect and categorize,
not assess and adjudicate." The Consciousness Atlas follows that
approach. The data and structure are derived from Kuhn's paper;
feedback and suggested corrections are welcome, but the app is a
visualization layer on top of Kuhn's work.
Kuhn was not involved in the design or content of the Consciousness
Atlas, other than his original paper, 'A Landscape of Consciousness,'
which is the sole source.
FAQ
What is phenomenal consciousness?
Phenomenal consciousness refers to subjective experience - the
qualitative feel of being aware, like the taste of coffee or the
redness of red.
How many theories does the Atlas include?
The Atlas visualizes over 220 individual theories, grouped into ten
broad categories.
Does the Atlas show which theory is true?
No. The Atlas presents theories neutrally. It is a map, not an
argument for any single position.
Is the Atlas academic?
The Atlas is based on an academic source - Robert Kuhn's 2024 paper,
"A Landscape of Consciousness" - and links to canonical sources
where available.
Summary
The Consciousness Atlas is a straightforward visualization tool: it
presents Kuhn's taxonomy as a single, explorable map and lets users
open individual theory entries to read structured, referenced
summaries. It is designed to make this complex field easier to survey
and to serve as a practical reference.
Materialism › Computational
Blums’ Conscious Turing Machine
Consciousness as Broadcast and Inspection of World-Model Chunks
Lenore, Manuel, and Avrim Blum hold that consciousness, both access and phenomenal, is computational and can be captured in a formal machine model, the Conscious Turing Machine (CTM). In CTM, unconscious processors compete to place a chunk of information on a one-item ‘stage’ that is broadcast to all of them; the machine feels something when every processor inspects that broadcast against its self-built Model of the World, which it takes to be the world itself.
Lenore Blum, Manuel Blum, Avrim Blum
What consciousness is
Consciousness is a computational process. Conscious attention is the simultaneous reception of a broadcast chunk by all processors; conscious awareness is all processors simultaneously inspecting that chunk, whose meaning is grounded in the machine’s Model of the World.
Mind and body
Mind is the organization of computation, independent of substrate. CTM deliberately makes no claim about which brain areas implement which functions, so the same model can apply to brains and machines.
Mechanism
A probabilistic winner-take-all tournament up a binary tree, where each chunk’s chance of winning equals its weight divided by the total weight of all entries. The winner is broadcast to every processor, and conscious awareness occurs when all processors inspect it in the same tick.
Core claims
- A theorem shows that a chunk’s chance of winning is its weight divided by the total weight of all entries, independent of where processors sit in the tree.
- CTM reproduces inattentional blindness, change blindness, and a Libet-like delay between a chunk entering the competition and its broadcast.
- Mislabeled sketches in the Model of the World produce analogues of phantom limb syndrome, body integrity disorder, and paranoia.
- CTM aligns at a high level with global workspace theory, attention schema theory, predictive processing, embodied cognition, and integrated information theory.
- CTM predicts that a central executive is unnecessary for consciousness, and so that the brain has none.
Criticisms
Critics question whether formal definitions and symbol processing can capture felt experience. Subjective experience enters through Axiom A, so the account of feeling rests on an assumption. Anil Seth and Nick Humphrey, whose views overlap with CTM, hold that consciousness requires a living organism, which the Blums reject.
Implications
- AI consciousness: Yes
- The Blums argue CTM is buildable and that it makes AI consciousness plausible, even inevitable.
- Survival beyond death: No
- Since consciousness here is a computational process with a finite lifespan, it ends when the machine or brain stops running.
- Meaning and purpose: Humanistic only
- The theory explains consciousness as computation and posits no cosmic purpose.
- Virtual immortality: Possible
- If consciousness is substrate-independent computation, reproducing the same processes in another machine would follow from the view, though the Blums do not address this.
Related theories
Sources
- Lenore, Manuel, and Avrim Blum’s Conscious Turing Machine (Landscape of Consciousness), Lenore Blum, Manuel Blum, Avrim Blum (2022)
Explore all theories on the Consciousness Atlas
