Consciousness as a Dynamical Regime: Towards a Thermodynamic Theory of Phenomenal Transitions

Abstract

Abstract Most theories of consciousness characterise it as a property of neural states: a level of complexity, an amount of integrated information, a global broadcast. We propose a fundamentally different characterisation: consciousness is a dynamical regime — a mode of operation defined not by what a system is, but by how it changes. Drawing on non-equilibrium thermodynamics, the Negative Space Encoding framework, and converging empirical evidence from five independent EEG datasets, we develop the Dynamical Regime Hypothesis (DRH): phenomenal consciousness corresponds to a specific region of a three-dimensional dynamical state space defined by spatial efficiency η (level of organisation), hierarchical coupling C_fast-slow (integration-differentiation balance), and entropy production rate v_η = |dη/dt| (capacity for phenomenal transitions). A system is phenomenally conscious not when it achieves high values on any single dimension, but when it operates in the regime where all three dimensions are simultaneously above threshold — and crucially, where the third dimension is non-zero, meaning the system retains the capacity to transition between phenomenal states. We derive seven specific, testable predictions from the DRH and identify nine open EEG datasets on which each prediction can be tested. The theory predicts a previously unrecognised dissociation: phenomenal richness (content diversity) and phenomenal level (intensity) are controlled by different dynamical variables, and can in principle be independently manipulated. Keywords: consciousness; dynamical systems; non-equilibrium thermodynamics; dissipative structures; spatial efficiency; C_fast-slow; entropy production; phenomenal transitions; EEG; Negative Space Encoding