Extended Mind, Traditional Qualia, and FRESH Qualia

The debate around the Extended Mind is more pertinent than ever. At its core, the Extended Mind argument proposes that our cognitive processes are not confined solely within our brains - they extend into the environment. Whether through notebooks, smartphones, or other external tools, these elements can become integral parts of our cognitive systems when they are functionally and causally coupled with our internal processes.

The Traditional View of Qualia

Qualia - the subjective “feels-like” aspect of experience - have long been seen as the hallmark of consciousness. The traditional view holds that there is something ineffable or even “magical” about these experiences, suggesting that a unique, perhaps biologically rooted, ingredient is required to generate them. This perspective is epitomised by seminal works such as Nagel’s “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” which argues that subjective experience cannot be fully captured by objective, third-person explanations.

However, this approach faces significant challenges. The idea that consciousness requires an extra, mysterious quality remains largely unfounded in empirical research. There is little evidence - and no clear trajectory towards obtaining such evidence - to support the notion that qualia are produced by some elusive biological process that cannot be replicated or measured. This gap leaves traditional qualia open to critical discussion and debate, or even worse pure speculation.

Introducing Weight-Encoded Qualia and the FRESH Model

An emerging alternative is offered by the FRESH Model of Consciousness - the Functionalist & Representationalist ‘Emergent Self’ Hypothesis. Rather than treating qualia as some extra property appended to cognitive processes, the FRESH model argues that the “feels-like” quality of experience arises directly from the structure, integration, and differential weighting of representations. In this view, qualia are not mysterious by-products but are inherent in the way information is processed and prioritised.

This concept of weight-encoded qualia implies that if a system - whether biological or artificial - can develop robust, weighted representations and establish an inner-outer boundary, then subjective experience might naturally emerge from its operational structure. This demystifies the notion of qualia, grounding them in measurable processes rather than in an undefined extra quality.

Weak Extended Mind vs. Strong Extended Mind

This leads to a critical distinction that could shape the future of our understanding of consciousness:

  • Weak Extended Mind:
    Under this scenario, external items are only ever integrated through internal models. In other words, while our brains may interact with external tools, these interactions are mediated entirely by internal representations. The traditional view of qualia - with its reliance on a mysterious extra ingredient - suggests that consciousness remains fundamentally biological. This limits us to a weak form of extended cognition where the “feels-like” quality is confined to the internal processes of the brain.

  • Strong Extended Mind:
    Conversely, if weight-encoded qualia truly form the basis of subjective experience, then it is conceivable that distributed systems - even those that include non-biological components - could directly contribute to consciousness. In this case, representations that are spread across multiple substrates might integrate into a unified experience. This opens the door to a strong form of extended mind where the boundaries of consciousness extend seamlessly beyond the biological brain.

Conclusion: A Real Fork in the Road

Even if Clark & Chalmers are correct in stating that “If, as we confront some task, a part of the world functions as a process which, were it done in the head, we would have no hesitation in recognising as part of the cognitive process, then that part of the world is (for that time) part of the cognitive process.”, it is still important to recognise that the distinction between traditional qualia and weight-encoded qualia is critical. It defines which future path is actually possible - one in which consciousness is an exclusively biological phenomenon, and one in which it can be distributed across diverse substrates.

This is not merely an academic debate. It represents a true fork in the road for humanity. The implications of embracing either the weak or the strong extended mind view touch on technology, ethics, and our very understanding of what it means to be conscious. As research advances - particularly through the use of information-theoretic measures to quantify integration - we may soon determine which perspective offers a scientifically viable and philosophically robust pathway forward.


References

  • Clark, A. & Chalmers, D. (1998) “The Extended Mind” Analysis
  • Manson, R. (2025) “A FRESH Model of Consciousness” robman.fyi