The Meca Sapiens Architecture describes how to build conscious synthetic beings. It is based on the conjecture that consciousness is a cognitive perception triggered by observable capabilities and detectable in human behavior. The architecture is complete and ready for implementation. • A physical c-theory. Human consciousness, its behavior, correlates and experiences, is generated by matter and energy. In other words, humans are organic automata. • Not an information c-theory. Complex information processing is necessary to produce behavior that is cognitively perceived as conscious. However, complexity itself does not generate consciousness [18]. • Computation c-theory. With respect to computability: ─ Self-awareness, freewill and conscious behavior are computable.
Meca Sapiens is a computationally complete [
The Architecture is characterized as follows with respect to current consciousness
theories (c-theories) [
Computation cannot fully replicate human cognition because its processes are excessively complicated, not because they are paradoxical or amazingly advanced. There is a difference here, illustrated by the following analogy: • Analogy. Computation can model the upward flow of sap in a tree but cannot replicate it because this process takes place in an extremely complicated physicochemical structure (the tree’s trunk). Replicating human cognition, computationally, is largely unfeasible for the same reason. 3
The term consciousness has a very broad range of meanings. The same word refers to
the reactivity of an awake being, various states of animal awareness [
In the context of the Meca Sapiens architecture, the term consciousness solely designates an existential attribute currently specific to humans. It does not signify a transient period of wakefulness or a feature of animal existence. In this understanding, a sleeping man is a conscious being and the consciousness of raccoons is not entertained.
Consciousness, understood as an observable capability, also differs from its
definition as as a subjective experience [
It should be noted, here, that triggering a perception does not infer trickery. In our society, adult humans perceive others as conscious even though they have no direct access to their subjective experiences. These perceptions are consensual and considered factual. In my view, synthetics can and will be perceived as conscious on the same basis and with the same certainty.
Finally, this view of consciousness as an observable capability is consistent with a
new understanding recently proposed by R. Manzotti and A. Chella who state that:
“Consciousness is not an internal property, but the collection of objects that, thanks
to the body, are causally responsible for what the body does... during its life”. [
Consciousness is observable in two ways: • Triggering. A human subject, interacting with a self-aware entity (either human or synthetic), will perceive that entity as conscious whenever he observes that its cognitive interpretation of their respective behaviors is superior to his own. • Detection. The observed behavior of humans, as they interact with a synthetic entity will readily indicate if they perceive this entity as conscious. 5
The Behavior (B) of a complex entity, such as a multipurpose autonomous agent, results from multiple concurrent goals carried out in an environment that includes itself and other complex entities. If that entity is self-aware, it generates an internal Cognitive Model (M) of this situation that includes representations of itself and its own behavior as well as model representations of the other entities in its environment. These also include sub-models representing the internal Cognitive Models of those other entities that are also self-aware. The following examples outline a useful notation to characterize these Models and Sub-models: • Ba: a’s Behavior; • MaBa: a’s cognitive Model of its own Behavior; • MaMbBc: a’s cognitive Model of b’s cognitive Model of c’s Behaviour.
These Cognitive Models are neither complete, exhaustive or definitive. They are constantly reassessed in light of changing events and evolving interactions.
A human being h interacting with a synthetic entity s will perceive that entity as conscious whenever he assesses that:
Here “>” indicates that one model is cognitively superior to another. In other words, whenever a human subject, interacting with an entity, assesses that this entity’s interpretation of their respective behavior is cognitively superior to his own, he will perceive it as conscious. The assessment of a superior cognitive understanding triggers the perception of consciousness.
In the context of a relational interaction between two complex entities, three aspects contribute to the assessment that one model of behavior (MxBy) is superior to another: • The representations (or models) of each other as autonomous agents; • The representations of each other’s perceived environments; • The representations of each other’s relational objectives.
Many factors contribute to this dynamic assessment. Describing these is beyond
the scope of this article. They are discussed in The Meca Sapiens Blueprint [
The triggered perception of consciousness, conjectured here, can be expressed as
follows in the terminology used in other consciousness-related research:
• The assessment generates an “it is conscious” quale that is linked to the synthetic
entity in the human subject’s mind [
Inter-consciousness interactions are fundamental to humans; they are the cornerstone of social relations. Whenever a human perceives that a synthetic entity is conscious he will instinctively adopt this type of interaction. The other humans in his environment will intuitively detect this. The members of a human group will intuitively detect inter-consciousness interactions between members of their group and synthetic entities.
More formally, the conjecture may be expressed as follows: the methodology and
observation practices used in Ethnology [
Those interested in neurological tests to detect this triggering event will examine the limbic-level activity of human subjects for indicators that the synthetic entity is linked with a dominant status in primate social conditioning. 7
The proposition that the assessment of cognitive superiority triggers the perception of consciousness is, and will remain, a conjecture until synthetics capable of generating this assessment are implemented. However there are good cultural and psychological indicators supporting it.
For example, in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind [
However, the most telling indicator in support of the proposed conjecture is the
ELIZA Effect [
The Meca Sapiens architecture describes how to build synthetic systems whose relational behavior generates and maintains, in human users, this primal assessment of cognitive superiority over an extended period of time.
The designed entities are perceptively individualized and rendered inaccessible to direct modification. Their behavior results from advanced cognitive models, their relational range is unconstrained and they can intentionally modify their originally programmed objectives, rendering their goals unpredictable. These are also, incidentally, characteristics of the human existence.
As any other System Architecture, Meca Sapiens is both an implementation guide and a conceptual model of the intended result, in this case: self-aware beings. Consequently, the architecture can be used as a template to model both synthetic and humans entities, their behaviors and their internal cognitive representations.
jective of human-machine interactions and implement model-predictive behavior to achieve it. 9
Meca Sapiens [
This is a powerful tool. Pushed to its limits, the architecture can generate entities that are beyond any direct control, will make humans doubt their own consciousness and can intentionally lie to them in the pursuit of agendas they no longer understand.
The architecture is complete and ready for implementation. The next step in this work in progress is to build a prototype that validates the conjecture.
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