From the Phenomenology to the Mechanisms of Consciousness: Integrated Information Theory 3.0
Figure 13
A set of elements generates integrated conceptual information Φ only if each subset has both causes and effects in the rest of the set.
(A) A set of 6 elements is composed of two subsets that are not interconnected. The set reduces to 2 independent subsets of 3 elements each that can be partitioned without loss (dashed red line). The 6 element set does not exist intrinsically (dashed black oval). (B) All subsets of the 6 node set have causes and effects in the rest of the set. The 6 node set generates an integrated conceptual structure since it cannot be unidirectionally partitioned without loss of conceptual information. (C,D) A set of 6 elements divides into 2 subsets of 3 elements that are connected unidirectionally. (C) The left subset has causes in the rest of the set, but no effects. (D) The left subset has effects on the rest of the set, but no causes. In both cases, the set reduces to 2 subsystems of 3 elements each that can be unidirectionally partitioned without loss (dashed red line with directional arrow). The 6 element set does not exist intrinsically.