Metabolic Departure Principle (MDP): A Structural Critique of Convergence-Based Theories of Consciousness and a Metabolic Alternative
Lina Bessonova
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) August 3, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21775620 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that subjecthood depends on a system's capacity to generate departure from homeostatic stability rather than on minimizing surprise, and contends that convergence-based frameworks confuse the symptom of stability with the source of subjecthood, since a fully converged system resembles a dead agent (the "Dead Thermostat Problem"). Proposes a computational architecture, the "Dynamic Allostatic Core," to implement this principle. |
Abstract
We propose the Metabolic Departure Principle (MDP)—the claim that subjecthood does not arise from the minimisation of surprise or the maintenance of a stationary distribution, but from a system's capacity to generate departure within conditions of established homeostatic stability. We contrast MDP against convergence-based frameworks, arguing that these frameworks identify the symptom of stability with the source of subjecthood. A system that has achieved perfect convergence is indistinguishable from a dead agent (the "Dead Thermostat Problem"). We present a synthetic architecture—the Dynamic Allostatic Core (DAC)—that implements MDP computationally, relying on continuous dissipative structures rather than global loss minimization.