The Stability-Consciousness Hypothesis: A Model for Scalar Awareness from Primordial Particles to Complex Neural Systems
Aadhya Singh
PsyArXiv April 2, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/egyf6_v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Proposes that consciousness has existed since the earliest moment at the subatomic level rather than emerging suddenly when brains reach a certain complexity. Argues that the tendency of elements to stabilize themselves is the starting point for tracing consciousness, and that a mind's degree of sensitivity is its consciousness, constituted by the arrangement of its elements at the most fundamental level. |
Abstract
For ages, scientists have viewed consciousness as some sort of magic trick that suddenly appears when brains achieve a certain level of complexity. What if, however, consciousness has existed all along, even at the smallest levels? Here, I am suggesting a different take: what if consciousness started down at the very subatomic level, and indeed, it was present at the earliest moment? Initially, we have to look at the tendency of elements to stabilize themselves, without which there would have been no atoms, no molecules, no living beings. From here, we are able to trace the development of consciousness. The degree of a mind's sensitivity is, in a way, its consciousness, which is the arrangement of its elements at the most fundamental level. Keywords: panpsychism, proto-consciousness, substrate configuration, free energy principle, hard problem of consciousness, integrated information