Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 3, 2026
Filip Belciug
Consciousness in humans and similar embodied organisms is the first-person lived form of bounded, valenced, integrated organism-level control, according to this conceptual framework. The framework, called Bounded Valenced Integrated Control (BVIC), holds that a conscious biological system's continued integrity matters to its own regulation, its states are affectively weighted, its subsystems are dynamically integrated, and its action-guiding states remain available as its own perspective. The hard problem is partly misframed when it assumes affect-neutral processing and then asks why feeling is added.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 3, 2026
德猛 杨
A new theory called Field-Based Consciousness Theory proposes that consciousness is not produced by the brain but is a fundamental property of the universe's basic substance, the Vacuum Virtual State Field. This field is the only physical reality; matter and all physical phenomena are disturbances within it. Consciousness emerges as a high-order self-awareness effect when this field forms complex, self-referential structures. The theory describes five states of consciousness: awake, anesthetized, dreaming, hallucinating, and universal resonant. It aims to explain subjective experience and free will without extra assumptions, but quantitative formulas are not yet complete.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 3, 2026
Saif Pathan
The Saifian Principle (SP) distinguishes spatial dimensions (directly perceived) from temporal dimensions (affecting beings without direct perception). It states that a being perceives only the spatial dimensions it possesses and is affected by the temporal dimensions it possesses. Combined with humans perceiving 3 spatial dimensions and being affected by 1 time dimension, the principle has implications for philosophy of perception, philosophy of physics, quantum mechanics (the measurement problem), and cognitive science. The paper engages with Kant, Berkeley, McTaggart, Bell, and Maudlin, and addresses objections from virtual reality, brain-computer interfaces, evolution, time perception, and the presentism vs. eternalism debate.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 3, 2026
A. Reavis Marques
Substratism is a neurophilosophical framework that distinguishes three separate categories: Being (the continuous material substrate that supported a person's consciousness), Entity (the living organism), and Identity (the conscious organization during life). Death ends Identity and typically Entity, but not Being. Postmortem material continuity refers only to the lawful persistence and possible biological re-entry of that historical material substrate, not to any form of psychological survival, resurrection, or afterlife. The framework treats brainstem-thalamic arousal systems as necessary but not sufficient for conscious presence, and proposes a staged research program to test atom retention, arousal-system dependence in disorders of consciousness, and biogeochemical substrate re-entry. No new data are reported.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 2, 2026
Max Wharton
Over 340 distinct theories of consciousness exist without a common evaluation framework. The Consciousness Theory Evaluation Protocol (CTEP) v1.0 provides a theory-neutral instrument for assessing any such theory. It organizes evaluation around seven questions scored on four criteria—coherence, sufficiency, discriminability, and parsimony—arranged in a three-tier dependency hierarchy, producing a structured profile of twenty-eight scored cells rather than a binary verdict. As a proof of concept, CTEP was applied to Global Neuronal Workspace Theory, Integrated Information Theory, Orchestrated Objective Reduction, and the Infinite Continuum framework, with evaluations conducted by two independent LLM evaluators using identical source texts. A multi-evaluator panel architecture with a synthesis layer is proposed for distinguishing stable, contested, and artefact findings. CTEP v1.0 is offered as a starting point for community development.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 1, 2026
Gustavo Oliveira
Dual-Aspect Quantum Theory (DAQT) proposes that consciousness has a dual structure: subjective experiences (qualia) influence probabilities, and agency resolves possibilities into actions. Quantum mechanics' two modes—unitary evolution and collapse—are interpreted as having subjective interiors, matching this architecture. The framework reformulates major problems in philosophy of mind, such as the Hard Problem and the Combination Problem, as consequences of this psychophysical structure. It explores mathematical characterization of qualia, entanglement's role in unified consciousness, and a potential biological mechanism. DAQT is presented as a coherent explanatory program, not a completed proof or model.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 1, 2026
Michel Robert Cabrié
Lucid dreaming is described as a distinct dual-coherence state in the BCT Superfluid Lattice Model, characterized by simultaneous enhanced infra-slow power near a Josephson frequency of 0.08979 Hz and maintenance of local self-referential coherence above a threshold of 135. The model defines a dual-coherence ratio comparing power at the Josephson frequency to delta-band power, predicting this ratio is highest in lucid REM, lower in normal REM, and lowest in NREM. This prediction aligns with a replicated EEG finding of delta reduction during verified lucid REM. The DREAM database is identified as the appropriate dataset for testing, and the prediction has zero free parameters.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 1, 2026
Max Wharton
The Infinite Continuum (IC) framework inverts the standard assumption that consciousness is produced by complex physical systems, instead holding that consciousness is ontologically primary and that biological systems act as constraint architectures selecting which regions of a pre-existing phase space of possible experience become locally accessible. The framework comprises three layers: the Infinite Self as phase space, the Extended Self as a dynamic topological feature, and the Local Self as a constrained trajectory. The Inverse Access Phenomenon—where reduced neural constraint expands rather than contracts conscious access—is presented as a key challenge to generator accounts. The IC converges with the Curvature Adaptation Hypothesis on a shared geometric architecture, leading to the Extended Manifold Chip Hyperscanning Protocol, an experimental design to adjudicate between three positions on the physical substrate of conscious access.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 1, 2026
Vlad Tverdohleb
Materialist science cannot explain subjective experience or anomalous phenomena such as spontaneous remissions, nonlocal healing, verified past-life memories, and reports of a luminous 'body of light' across spiritual traditions. The Ogdoadic Synthesis places consciousness, not matter, as the foundation of reality, integrating cosmopsychist dual-aspect monism, quantum biology, bioelectricity, torsion field physics, and perennial esoteric maps. It proposes a Fundamental Consciousness Field from which individual minds arise, each carrying a perfect Template State Vector (the '5D Blueprint'). Progressive alignment of the biological body with this template follows a nested harmonic cascade, involving mechanisms such as microtubule coherence, biophoton fields, EZ water, and cell voltage restoration. The paper concludes with testable predictions and a longitudinal case study.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 1, 2026
Юр'єв Віктор Єгорович Viktor Yuriev
The human brain is an integrated neurovascular system where neurons, blood vessels, glial cells, and metabolism work together. Neurovascular coupling, the blood–brain barrier, and the glymphatic system support cognitive processes. The vasculome is proposed as an additional organizational level alongside the connectome. Current brain reconstruction approaches have limitations, leading to a Biological Non-Reproducibility Principle for complex self-organizing systems. A neurovascular limit of consciousness hypothesis suggests conscious experience depends on sustained energetic and metabolic integration, not just neural architecture. Reproducing the brain cannot be reduced to copying neuronal connections. This perspective reshapes understanding of consciousness continuity, personal identity, and future brain bioengineering.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 1, 2026
Oleg V. Yermakov
Mars is reinterpreted not as an astronomical object but as a psycho-cosmic agent in the evolution of consciousness, functioning as a filter between states of awareness. A three-tier planetary model is proposed: the Moon as an archetypal archive, Earth as embodied experience, and Mars as a domain of transformation, will, and purifying fire. Hyperborea is redefined as a transcendent ontological layer linked to the Moon as a gateway to other dimensions. Mars is described as an energetic and archetypal structure associated with trial, will, dissolution of illusion, and transition to higher consciousness, integrating mythology, Hermeticism, Jungian psychology, Platonic tradition, and contemporary philosophy of consciousness.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 31, 2026
John Cantellow
Conscious experience may have a more fundamental and persistent feature than the forms of selfhood usually associated with it. Drawing on reports from dreaming, contemplative practice, psychedelic states, and nondual awareness, the paper introduces the concept of experiential presence: the minimal fact that experience appears present at all. This is a heuristic construct, not a metaphysical entity. Autobiographical identity, agency, embodiment, and self-boundary can transform while conscious experience remains. The paper considers competing interpretations and raises methodological and epistemological issues about whether experiential presence may be part of the condition under which consciousness becomes available for investigation. It does not claim experiential presence is universal, but aims to clarify questions for future research.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 31, 2026
Kimiyasu Igarashi
A tractable measure called Participation Ratio (PR), derived from the distribution of eigenvalues in neural activity covariance matrices, can distinguish biological from artificial information processing without computationally expensive methods. Simulations show that biological systems with history-dependent gain actively reduce the effective dimensionality of their state space in a way that resists input variability, whereas artificial systems with fixed gain passively reflect input diversity as high-dimensional spread. This active low-dimensionalization is explained by the Maximum Entropy principle, where history-dependent gain imposes structured constraints that converge toward a low-PR attractor state regardless of environmental changes. The measure offers a practical, neurobiologically grounded index for comparing biological and artificial systems.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 30, 2026
Oleg V. Yermakov
Modern science paradoxically denies the subjectivity of the Universe despite advances in quantum physics and the philosophy of consciousness. The article analyzes why science continues to ignore the Living Universe hypothesis formulated in the works of John Wheeler, and proposes viewing reality as a co-creative process between observer and observed. It argues for integrating scientific, philosophical, and spiritual knowledge to form a new holistic worldview. Recognizing the Universe as a subject could enable an ethical, cosmic, and personal breakthrough, potentially giving rise to new medicine, ecology, science, and dialogue between planetary levels of consciousness.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 30, 2026
Mart Wijn
Western civilization has unintentionally moved away from understanding consciousness, which is not a product of brain activity but a state of being in which an organism directly processes environmental demands. The Default Mode Network, when dominant, disrupts this natural state, and mental suffering maps onto self-reinforcing DMN patterns. The authors argue that independent sources—indigenous traditions, medieval mysticism, developmental psychology, and contemplative neuroscience—converge on a single underlying reality, and a map for returning to this original state is available.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 30, 2026
Samuel Richards
An acquired change becomes part of a system's organizational identity—termed a scar—when it meets three formal criteria: irreversibility, generativity, and architecturally expanding constraint within a closed organized system. The paper defines a scar register and distinguishes minimal selfhood from robust selfhood based on register closure and connectedness. Seven propositions and one theorem are proved, including that fixed-topology weight-separable AI systems cannot acquire scars. Computational demonstrations confirm the framework's internal consistency and discriminatory behavior. The work offers a formal answer to which historical interactions become constitutive of what a system is, rather than remaining merely causal events.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 30, 2026
Jamie Morris
Recognized error feels different from ordinary failure because meaning itself depends on the possibility of relating distinctions in more than one way. A system can only be wrong if alternatives existed. Cognition includes a distinct adjudicative function that preserves alternative accessibility within a meaning-landscape, a function not exhausted by the truth or utility of those alternatives. The emotional weight of error reflects the withdrawal of endorsement from a previously trusted distinction—consciousness transitioning from 'yes' to 'no' from within. This is a falsifiable architectural claim: if all alternative-preservation reduces to prediction-error minimization, global broadcasting, or sensorimotor coordination, the adjudicative function would be unnecessary.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 30, 2026
Mart Wijn
Western civilization has gradually moved away from understanding what consciousness actually is, not through ill intent but through accumulating assumptions. Consciousness is not a product of brain activity, quantum processes, or information integration; it is a state of being in which a living organism directly processes environmental requirements using natural means. The Default Mode Network, when dominant, disrupts this natural state, and mental suffering maps onto self-reinforcing DMN patterns. Independent sources—indigenous traditions, medieval mysticism, developmental psychology, and contemplative neuroscience—converge on a single underlying reality, offering a map for returning to this original state.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 29, 2026
John Carter
An analysis of 53 primary texts from major world religious, mystical, and philosophical traditions identifies eight convergent signal categories: the interior location of the sacred, cyclical civilizational time, the universal Golden Rule as evolutionary strategy, the Earth as a living system requiring stewardship, the service-to-self versus service-to-others orientation binary, the unity underlying apparent diversity, the remnant survival archetype across reset/flood narratives, and the directionality of consciousness expansion as the core developmental imperative. The work argues these convergences represent independent arrivals at the same territory across thousands of years and every inhabited continent, encoding survival-critical information for stable human civilization. The mythology is examined against scientific correlates including paleoclimatology, evolutionary biology, game theory, and contemplative neuroscience.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 29, 2026
Gerd Leidig
Active Inference is often interpreted as a theory where the brain builds internal models of an external world, but this article argues it is better understood as enactive inference: a theory of embodied, affectively regulated coupling between organism and environment. Free-energy minimization cannot be reduced to passive sensory-surprise reduction, as shown by the dark-room problem, but must relate to expected free energy, exploration, viability, and biological normativity. Introducing processual perspectivism as an ontology of perspective-bearing life, the article posits that mind is not an inner representational object but the perspectival form of embodied self-organization, and consciousness is the intrinsic, affectively structured perspective of a living system regulating its openness to the world.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 29, 2026
Paul W. Barnes
Intelligence, understanding, reasoning, and other mental concepts are being redefined through six specific fallacies—Hard Conflation, Concept Hollowing, the Stolen Concept, Package Dealing, Floating Abstractions, and the Anti-Concept—so that they apply to AI systems while discarding the phenomenal (subjective) aspects originally part of these concepts. Using intelligence as a central example, the argument shows that genuine intelligence requires registration, which requires an interior aspect, which is what phenomenal consciousness names; thus intelligence depends on consciousness. The contemporary view that AI is intelligent yet AI consciousness is intractable is maintained only by capturing both concepts in parallel. An eight-stage account describes how this captured vocabulary becomes the norm for understanding human cognition, erasing resources for recognizing phenomenal experience.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 29, 2026
Andrew Stewart Caldin
A high-dimensional geometric framework called E8 can encode the coupled dynamics of serotonin-2A receptor activation and dopamine pathways relevant to cocaine addiction. Embedding clinical data on psilocybin and cocaine into this model allows rapid classical simulations that predict therapeutic outcomes, potentially enabling faster optimization of dosing protocols. The original finding suggests that psilocybin could be an effective treatment for cocaine addiction.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 29, 2026
Kimiyasu Igarashi
A tractable measure called Participation Ratio (PR), derived from eigenvalue distributions of neural trajectory covariance matrices, can distinguish biological from artificial information processing. Simulations show that history-dependent gain formation in biological systems actively reduces the dimensionality of state-space usage, converging toward a low-PR attractor state regardless of input diversity, consistent with the Maximum Entropy principle. In contrast, fixed gain in artificial systems passively reflects input diversity as high-dimensional spread. The authors propose PR as a practically computable, neurobiologically grounded index for comparing structural organization between biological and artificial systems, connecting to prior work on gain-mediated segregation/integration transitions, attractor manifold topology, and cortical gain modulation.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 28, 2026
John Cantellow
A constraint-based framework for consciousness is extended by examining intracellular neuroscience, particularly microtubules and anesthetic mechanisms, to propose that conscious accessibility emerges from interacting layers of sensory contribution, neural organization, intracellular regulation, and phenomenological constraint rather than from generative models alone. The framework introduces Omnon as a descriptive state-space construct for representing organized variation in phenomenological accessibility without additional ontological commitments. Extraordinary conscious reports are treated as boundary conditions that can refine explanatory assumptions. Provisional predictions are offered to increase empirical vulnerability and distinguish this contributory approach from stronger generative interpretations. The work does not argue for survival, non-local consciousness, quantum consciousness, or disembodied awareness.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 28, 2026
Andrew Stewart Caldin
An analysis of near-death experiences (NDEs) using the E8 geometric framework suggests that the non-local aspects of consciousness may correspond to specific node patterns within E8's structure. This alignment supports the idea that consciousness is not exclusively generated by the brain. The finding highlights a gap in existing research on E8 consciousness.