Human Evolution, Consciousness, and Societal Restraints
John Kabeya
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) October 21, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23534706 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that individuality, behavioral divergence, and adaptive responses to novel challenges can provide evidence about cognition without alone establishing subjective experience, and proposes an "individualized adaptive threshold framework" that measures learning and behavioral reorganization against each subject's baseline without harmful stress. Contends that capable autonomous AI may alter human control over work, information, and institutions regardless of whether machine consciousness emerges, and advocates a pluralistic, graded research framework over a single evolutionary ladder. |
Abstract
This paper examines the evolution and possible varieties of consciousness through comparative animal behaviour, human metacognition, social conditioning, and artificial intelligence. It proposes that individuality, behavioural divergence, and adaptive responses to novel challenges can provide evidence about cognition, while recognizing that none alone establishes subjective experience. A proposed individualized adaptive threshold framework assesses learning and behavioural reorganization relative to each subject's baseline without imposing harmful stress. The analysis then extends to AI systems: increasingly capable autonomous systems may alter human control over work, information, and institutions regardless of whether machine consciousness emerges. The paper develops testable predictions, methodological safeguards, and alternative interpretations, and argues for a pluralistic and graded research framework rather than a single evolutionary ladder.