Are Networks (Becoming) Conscious? Primary Materials from the 2016 CogNovo ColLaboratoire Workshop on Network Consciousness and Embodied & Distributed Cognition

Abstract

These are primary materials produced during the week-long ColLaboratoire workshop in August 2016, at the University of Plymouth - Cognition Institute, as part of the CogNovo doctoral training program. Some materials were originally published on a public workshop website, now offline; others survive as original workshop files, presentations, photographic records, and later institutional press documentation. The present bundle is an archival reconstruction compiled from the original files, notes, and presentations. The original intellectual work dates to 2016; this compilation and its metadata are dated 2026

The workshop asked whether highly-connected networks—such as the Internet—could be said to be conscious, or could become conscious. It approached this question through the lenses of embodied, situated, enactive, extended, and distributed cognition. The intent of the workshop was to explore the suggestion that highly connected networks such as the Internet could be considered conscious and whether such a network might be more likely to be conscious if it had a body. It frames these questions through theories of extended, situated, enactive, and embodied cognition. The background sets out two contrasting positions. Some theories suggest that consciousness might emerge from sufficiently complex or highly networked systems. The proposal, however, notes that connectedness alone may be insufficient: a conscious agent may need to be situated within an environment, while embodied approaches to cognition emphasize the importance of a physical body. In particular, the proposal highlights the sensorimotor dimensions of embodiment and suggests that the nervous system may have evolved in relation to the need to navigate and interact safely with the physical world.

The proposal organizes its questions into three broad areas: the body, the group mind, and the environment. Under the question of the body, it considers whether the Internet of Things, together with sensors, actuators, and human users, could constitute something analogous to the Internet’s hands, arms, legs, feet, ears, eyes, skin, noses, and tongues. It also raises the possibility of modeling such distributed organization on systems such as slime mold. Under the question of the group mind, it asks whether increasingly sophisticated social networks might themselves constitute conscious group minds, or alternatively function as extensions of human minds. Under the question of the environment, it asks what environment such an intelligence would inhabit and how it might interact with physical space.

The proposal identifies the intended output as a research proposal built around focused research questions, a cross-disciplinary literature review, and innovative methodologies. Suggested methods include digital ethnography, big-data analytics, network analysis, visual analytics, data mining, social-media sentiment analysis, sculpture, computational modeling, and performance. Possible proofs of concept include visualizations, maps, diagrams, performances, and interactive installations. The document includes references to a broad set of readings comprising popular articles, books, scholarly articles, and online resources.