A Solution to the Hard Problem of Qualia via Self-Referential Enrichment -Vis se tenet aevum Qualia as the Internally Accessible Difference Made by Self-Holding Dynamics
A formal theory identifies subjective experience (qualia) with the internally accessible difference generated when a system models itself. The framework synthesizes eight prior lines of work into a single architecture. The central thesis proposes that qualia are not static properties or inexplicable supplements to computation but the self-referentially accessible component of a system's own state-transition field. When a structured system closes a distinction upon itself, the closure modifies internal organization, and the qualitative aspect of experience is the mode of this modification. The theory defines a state space, a phenomenality gate, a latent enrichment operator, and reduced toroidal dynamics, derives threshold conditions for phenomenal efficacy, characterizes four dynamical regimes, and formulates experimental predictions.