Knowledge Tree
Relations (1)
related 0.90 — strongly supporting 9 facts
Consciousness and agency are frequently discussed together as interrelated properties of life and cognition, with theories suggesting that consciousness confers an adaptive advantage by enabling agency [1] and that agency serves as a link between conscious contents and behavior [2]. Furthermore, both concepts are often grouped as capacities that must be defined or qualified when applied to artificial systems {fact:1, fact:3} or considered as central components in evolutionary theories like the Cambrian explosion {fact:7, fact:8}.
Facts (9)
Sources
The function(s) of consciousness: an evolutionary perspective frontiersin.org 4 facts
referenceThe evolution of agency, defined as the link between conscious contents and behavior, depended on neurocircuitry innovations that made memory responsive to sensations generated by consciousness, according to Lacalli (2023).
claimTheories that define consciousness as dependent on the emergence of a self posit that selfhood and agency must be learned and achieved, as argued by Marchetti (2022).
claimConsciousness confers an adaptive advantage by transferring agency to the individual, allowing them to respond more rapidly and flexibly to unpredictable events by moving outside the parameters of preprogrammed and non-consciously conditioned behavioral sequences.
claimPierson and Trout (2017) define agency in the context of consciousness not as the proximate cause of an action, but as the ability to alter a predetermined sequence of reflexive actions to change an outcome, which equates to volition for the individual.
Life, Intelligence, and Consciousness: A Functional Perspective longnow.org 2 facts
claimIf intelligence, consciousness, and agency are defined as properties inherent to life, then computers cannot be intelligent, conscious, or possess agency because they are not alive, regardless of the functions they exhibit.
perspectiveMany members of the European and American intelligentsia argue that terms such as 'intelligence,' 'learning,' 'understanding,' 'agency,' and 'consciousness' should not be applied to artificial neural networks without qualification.
Complexity and the Evolution of Consciousness | Biological Theory link.springer.com 2 facts
claimPeter Godfrey-Smith emphasizes agency and subjectivity as central to consciousness, though the author notes these do not constitute a single property.
claimSome scientists and philosophers, including Trestman (2013), Feinberg and Mallatt (2016), Godfrey-Smith (2016), and Ginsburg and Jablonka (2019), have suggested that subjectivity, agency, and other capacities related to consciousness may provide a partial explanation for the Cambrian explosion.
Non-physicalist Theories of Consciousness cambridge.org 1 fact
perspectiveCritics argue that if agency is defined as collapsing brain states without influencing the outcome, the role of consciousness is limited to a passive 'rolling of the dice' where outcomes are random.