The Origins of Consciousness or the War of the Five Dimensions
Biological Theory August 25, 2022 Walter Friedrich Veit 21 citations
Consciousness is not a single, all-or-nothing quality but a set of dimensions that evolved separately. By reverse-engineering their evolutionary functions, simpler valenced states likely arose first, with more complex phenomenological layers emerging later. This Darwinian approach reframes consciousness as phenomenological complexity. Support for this evaluation-first view comes from recent experimental philosophy of mind.