Value saturation: Architecture of subjective necessity.
Bio Systems December 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2025.105642 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Biological grounding Consciousness Perspectival entrapment R2r Self-modeling Value saturation |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Proposes that phenomenal consciousness is identical to explicit recursive self-modeling saturated by homeostatic significance under perspectival entrapment, with testable predictions for developmental and clinical phenomena. |
Abstract
Consciousness requires explanation for how biological architectures reliably generate it. This paper introduces Value Saturation, advancing an identity claim: phenomenal consciousness IS explicit recursive self-modeling saturated by homeostatic significance under perspectival entrapment. Building on the Reaction to Reflection framework, the theory distinguishes sentience (implicit recursion under survival stakes, Level 2) from subjective consciousness (explicit recursion where self-models become manipulable, Levels 4-5). Three integrated components prove necessary: interoceptive binding, homeostatic saturation, and perspectival entrapment. Testable predictions include developmental progression from birth sentience to subjective consciousness around ages 3-5, awareness-manipulation asymmetry, and clinical dissociations producing aberrant rather than absent phenomenology. Converging evidence from prediction error processing, homeostatic feelings, metacognitive hierarchies, and biological computing's thermodynamic advantages supports these requirements. The framework specifies falsification criteria and transforms consciousness into an empirically tractable investigation of organizational transitions in biological systems under thermodynamic constraints.