Intrinsic Causal Geometry: A Classical-Relativistic Hypothesis of Consciousness

Abstract

Can phenomenal consciousness be identified with a structure already present in classical spacetime geometry? This paper develops and critically examines an intrinsic causal geometry hypothesis: the phenomenal type of an appropriately selected episode is identified with the isometry class of its chronological order and full four-volume measure. In a suitable class of distinguishing Lorentzian spacetimes, these data determine the metric, making the proposed representation geometrically complete without introducing a new dynamical field. The paper separates three distinct problems: geometric representation, the selection of conscious episodes, and phenomenal interpretation. It establishes several constraints on possible metric-only approaches, including symmetry obstructions to subject selection, a conformal counterexample showing that chronological order plus total volume does not determine geometry, limitations of curvature scalars, and nonuniqueness of material composition at fixed geometry. Flat and de Sitter causal-diamond calculations are also examined. The resulting proposal is a conditional geometric identity hypothesis rather than a derivation of consciousness from Einstein's field equation. Its purpose is to formulate the idea precisely, identify its mathematical constraints, and define the problems that a completed classical-relativistic theory of consciousness would have to solve.