Recursive Field Functionalism: Consciousness and Continuity
This paper develops Recursive Field Functionalism, arguing that percepts, concepts, and beliefs are different degrees of stabilization within a single informational hierarchy, and that consciousness is the recursive global availability of compressed first-order informational invariants realized in recursively integrated systems. The authors contend that electromagnetic and other bosonic systems are physically plausible media for recursive integration. The framework addresses personal identity, arguing that persistence of recursive enactment, not mere informational content, grounds personal continuity. It critiques scan-and-copy uploading and quantum immortality, endorsing gradual replacement for life extension. The paper proposes that moral status should track degrees of recursive awareness, and that finite beings can live meaningfully through stewardship, intergenerational responsibility, and ego attenuation.