The Event Horizon of Awareness: Recoverable Continuity, Recurrence, and the Boundary of Conscious Attribution
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) April 30, 2026 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19913907 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractConscious awareness requires recurrent, state-dependent integration, not just continuity. When this recurrence becomes unrecoverable, a system reaches an event horizon of awareness: structural or informational continuity may persist, but reportable attribution fails. The paper distinguishes information conservation from awareness conservation and interprets near-death experiences, anesthesia edges, coma recovery, and similar boundary cases as near-horizon phenomena rather than evidence from beyond unrecoverability.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Attribution Boundary topology Event particle physics Causality physics Event horizon |
| Key finding | Argues that continuity alone is insufficient for conscious attribution because awareness requires recurrent, state-dependent integration, and that when such recurrence becomes unrecoverable, the system reaches an 'event horizon of awareness'. |
Abstract
This paper develops a C² = C continuity-based account of the boundary conditions of awareness. It argues that continuity alone is insufficient for conscious attribution because awareness requires recurrent, state-dependent integration. When such recurrence becomes unrecoverable, the system reaches an event horizon of awareness: continuity may persist at the structural or informational level, but reportable attribution fails. The paper distinguishes information conservation from awareness conservation and frames near-death experiences, anesthesia edges, coma recovery, and related boundary cases as near-horizon phenomena rather than evidence from beyond unrecoverability.