Functionalism

Functionalism is the view that a mental state is defined by what it does: how it connects to inputs, outputs and other mental states. What it’s physically made of doesn’t matter.

The Functional mind model. Each neuron is a node and each synapse is a weight, and nothing else is represented.

The Functional mind model is functionalism with a number on it: each neuron is a node, each synapse is a weight, and nothing else is represented. If only the rough functional organisation matters, this rung is enough for a mind. If finer physical detail matters, you need a higher rung, all the way up to the quantum one. If no digital version can be conscious, as Searle and integrated information theory say, no rung works.