Why the Brain Cannot Be a Digital Computer: History-Dependence and the Computational Limits of Consciousness

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2503.10518v1
• Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:27:42 GMT
• Title: Why the Brain Cannot Be a Digital Computer: History-Dependence and the Computational Limits of Consciousness
• Authors: Andrew Knight,
• Abstract summary: We show that the human brain as currently understood cannot function as a classical digital computer.<n>Our analysis calculates the bit-length requirements for representing consciously distinguishable sensory "stimulus frames"
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: This paper presents a novel information-theoretic proof demonstrating that the human brain as currently understood cannot function as a classical digital computer. Through systematic quantification of distinguishable conscious states and their historical dependencies, we establish that the minimum information required to specify a conscious state exceeds the physical information capacity of the human brain by a significant factor. Our analysis calculates the bit-length requirements for representing consciously distinguishable sensory "stimulus frames" and demonstrates that consciousness exhibits mandatory temporal-historical dependencies that multiply these requirements beyond the brain's storage capabilities. This mathematical approach offers new insights into the fundamental limitations of computational models of consciousness and suggests that non-classical information processing mechanisms may be necessary to account for conscious experience.

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