A Relativistic Theory of Consciousness (shortened version)
arXiv Preprint Archive February 11, 2025 Nir Lahav, Zachariah A. Neemeh
Consciousness may be a relative phenomenon, like motion in physics. The authors argue that the hard problem of consciousness—how neural activity creates subjective experience—remains unsolved because both dualist and illusionist views wrongly treat consciousness as an absolute property independent of an observer. They propose a relativistic theory: a cognitive system either has or does not have phenomenal consciousness relative to a particular observer. From the system's own frame of reference, consciousness is observable (first-person perspective); from another's frame, it is not. Neither perspective is privileged, as both describe the same underlying reality.