The ΔΓ-Metamnesis Framework: A Thermodynamic Theory of Consciousness Based on Memory Acceleration Dynamics How Dual Binding Resolves the Hard Problem and Binding Problem
Consciousness may arise when the second-order rate of change of memory dynamics (ΔΓ) exceeds a system constraint. This framework treats consciousness as a delayed memory system and proposes that unified experience emerges when the covariance of these dynamics across different brain processes exceeds a threshold and constrains action. Computational validation via an inverse Turing test showed that ΔΓ-based features detectably differentiate conscious-like (60.4%) from baseline (50.2%) conversational dynamics. The framework offers testable predictions, including that musical phenomenology emerges 200-500 milliseconds after peak covariance, that prosopagnosics show reduced covariance between brain regions, and that anesthetics reduce ΔΓ below threshold, explaining loss of consciousness. The approximately 500-millisecond delay observed by Libet and colleagues corresponds to the integration window required to compute covariance and evaluate energy thresholds.