Evolutionary Trajectories of Consciousness: From Biological Foundations to Technological Horizons.

Consciousness is proposed as an emergent, goal-directed informational system organized by subjective experience, which acts as an active system-forming factor throughout biological evolution. The framework traces the development of consciousness from proto-conscious invertebrates through vertebrates, where features like sensory filtering, causal reasoning, and adaptive arbitration appear, culminating in humans with culturally mediated networks. This perspective integrates evolutionary biology, information theory, and quantitative modeling to explain why consciousness arose and how subjectivity shapes complex networks, also providing a basis for exploring nonbiological extensions of subjectivity.

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Abstract

Consciousness remains one of the most critical yet least understood functions of the brain, not only in humans but also in certain highly organized animal species. In this review, we propose treating consciousness as an emergent, goal-directed informational system organized by the subjective "self" as an active system-forming factor. We present an integrative theoretical-systems framework in which subjectivity functions as system-forming factor of consciousness (SFF) throughout biological evolution. Beginning with proto-conscious invertebrates, we trace progressive elaborations of working and long-term memory, the refinement of behavioral programs, and the emergence of an internal arbiter capable of resolving competing drives. In endothermic vertebrates, subjectivity acquires distinct functional features-sensory filtering, causal reasoning, and adaptive arbitration-underpinned by increasingly complex neural architectures. This evolutionary trajectory culminates in humans, where subjectivity attains its highest level of organization through culturally mediated networks. Although the framework does not assume any specific neural substrate, it provides a testable roadmap linking evolutionary biology, information theory, and quantitative modeling. By clarifying why consciousness arose and how subjectivity shapes complex networks, this perspective also lays the groundwork for exploring possible nonbiological extensions of subjectivity.