I'm not entirely sure - he didn't explain it all that clearly. But it is definitely reminiscent of the factorization problems one sees in intro quantum mechanics, like noticing when you can do psi(x,y,z) = X(x) Y(y) Z(z). The similarity is that this scheme is all about finding that kind of joint to carve nature at - find things that are relatively independent from each other but strongly interacting within themselves.
Ok, that's a start, thanks. So is he suggesting that the way consciousness carves reality at the joints is special?
...in which case, this carving must be done at the analysis stage, right, not at the perception stage? Because at the perception stage, our senses work just like other (non-conscious) sensors.
And then finally, if he is talking about the way the conscious mind carves reality at the joints, this is processing after we have all the data so why is quantum mechanics relevant? (I imagine that a creature could analyze sensory data in lots of differe...
Max Tegmark publishes a preprint of a paper arguing from physical principles that consciousness is “what information processing feels like from the inside,” a position I've previously articulated on lesswrong. It's a very physics-rich paper, but here's the most accessable description I was able to find within it:
The whole paper is very rich, and worth a read.