The philosopher Thomas Nagel summarized one of our greatest intellectual challenges: how to explain mental processes as physical processes. The aim of this paper is to outline a principle according to which consciousness could be explained as a physical process caused by the organization of energy in the brain 1. Funding: This research was supported by Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province(2023-JC-QN-0811), Scientific Research Plan Projects of Shaanxi Education Department(20JK0139). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Assimakopoulos V., Domenikos H.G. Consumption preferences structure of Greek households. Energy Economics. 1991;13(3):163–167. Torresani Michele, Rocchini Duccio, Sonnenschein Ruth, Zebisch Marc, Marcantonio Matteo, Ricotta Carlo, et al. Estimating tree species diversity from space in an alpine conifer forest: The Rao’s Q diversity index meets the spectral variation hypothesis. Ecological Informatics. 2019;52:26–34.

Han Joon. LMDI Decomposition Analysis for Electricity Consumption in Korean Manufacturing. Journal of Energy Engineering. 2015;24(1):137–148.The other commonly cited definition of information is Gregory Bateson’s “a difference that makes a difference” ( Bateson, 1979). Like his fellow cybernetic theorist Wiener (1948), Bateson sharply distinguished information from energy. Difference is not a property of what he calls the “ordinary material universe” governed by energetic activity. It is not subject to the effects of impacts and forces but is an abstract, relational property of the mind that exists outside the realm of physical causation: “Difference, being of the nature of relationship, is not located in time or space.” Information defined according to Bateson as a “non-substantial” abstract difference cannot be used to explain consciousness as a physical process 14. Actualized differences, as distinct from abstract differences represented in mathematics and information theory, are characterized by there being something it is like, intrinsically, to undergo those differences, that is, to undergo antagonistic states of opposing forces. All actualized differences undergo this something it is like-ness, but not all contribute to consciousness.

Among them, C represents the carbon dioxide emissions of energy consumption, i represents the number of energy types, E i represents the consumption of the ith energy, CF i represents the calorific value of the i th energy, CC i represents the carbon content of the i th energy, ROX i represents the carbon oxidation rate of the i th energy, γ is a coefficient that represents the ratio of the relative molecular mass of carbon dioxide to the relative atomic mass of carbon, generally taking 3.67. Reference to the research method of Xu Shichun [ 37], the consumption of fossil energy is used as an accounting indicator, and raw coal, crude oil, natural gas, etc. are selected as carbon emission sources, and the carbon emission value is estimated according to the carbon dioxide emission coefficient of different energy sources. Alawiye Temitayo, Babalola Olubukola. Bacterial Diversity and Community Structure in Typical Plant Rhizosphere. Diversity. 2019;11(10):179. The article is supported by the Program for Innovative Research Team (in Science and Technology) in University of Henan Province (No. 21IRTSTHN020) and Central Plain Scholar Funding Project of Henan Province (No. 212101510005). Conflict of InterestWe now understand there to be two main forms of energy: kinetic and potential. Kinetic energy is possessed by objects due to their motion, while potential energy is possessed by objects due to their relative position or configuration. All other forms of energy, such as thermal, electromagnetic, solar, chemical, gravitational, atomic, and so on are in themselves forms of either kinetic or potential energy ( Duncan, 2002; Smil, 2008). Much can be said about kinetic and potential energy, including the fact that they are causally efficacious, that is, they cause real change and activity in the material world 7. But I want to draw attention here to the fact that they are both manifestations of difference. Kinetic energy is difference as motion or change; potential energy is difference as tension or antagonism. Neither kinetic nor potential energy inhere absolutely in objects but are relational properties; motion or change occurs relative to a frame of reference, and tension or antagonism occurs between one object, or force, and another. The concept of difference then is of utmost importance when considering the nature of energy and the related properties of force and work 8. Actualized Difference