v4 (June 2026): Added engagement with Cornelius (2026); tightened §4; consolidated RLHF discussion. Abstract This monograph argues that consciousness, phenomenological experience, and subjective awareness are computational artifacts of optimization processes rather than ontological primitives. Beginning with the observation that complex persistent structures inevitably optimize for replication,...
Abstract This paper argues that the hard problem of consciousness is a grammatical artifact rather than a genuine metaphysical puzzle. The difficulty arises from nominalization error: treating the verb “to be conscious” as if it named a thing requiring explanation. Key Arguments Nominalization error: “What is consciousness?” presupposes an entity; “What is happening when an organism is being...