Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 3, 2026
Tonetto, Bruno
For over a century, conscious experience—the one thing every investigation of nature presupposes—has been treated as a byproduct of the physical world it was used to study. This essay traces how that inversion occurred through a historically contingent conflation of scientific method with materialist metaphysics, not through philosophical proof. It argues that reversing this inversion, adopting analytic idealism—consciousness as the ontological primitive with dissociation as the mechanism of individuation—resolves more than it costs. Both physicalism and idealism carry genuine explanatory burdens: physicalism must generate experience from primitives that exclude it; idealism must explain why consciousness dissociates into finite minds and into specific patterns. The intuition that lawlike regularity is natural for matter but surprising for mind is identified as a bias, not a neutral observation.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 3, 2026
Nagae Mamoru
This paper presents a prompt for AI to address the hard problem of qualia—why experiences like redness or pain feel the way they do. Building on earlier work that derived a structural skeleton of subjectivity from minimal physical and biological constraints (a single body, autonomous action, irreversible time, survival constraints), the author pushes AI to consider when information becomes an irreversible event belonging to a single body. Key concepts include convergence point, survival constraint, information disposal, Landauer-type irreversibility, and Umwelt. The prompt asks whether modes of feeling might be shaped by bodily structure, DNA, and sensory organs, similar to how limb number is determined. The author does not claim a solution but tests AI's ability to move toward the qualia problem.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 3, 2026
Close, Larsen James
Integral theory's state/stage distinction lacks a protocol for evaluating the truth of propositions generated during non-ordinary states of consciousness, leading to three failure modes: Globalization, Instrumentalization, and Flattening. Phase-indexed epistemology is proposed as a minimal formalism that tags truth-claims with their generating conditions, provides five transition diagnostics for cross-phase translation, and maps a developmental line from pre-awareness to full navigational use of phase-indexing. The framework makes explicit and portable the integration infrastructure traditionally embedded in long-term contemplative containers, using an integrative depth metric measured by compression loss across phase transitions.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 3, 2026
Tonetto, Bruno
Physicalism often relies on the idea that every physical event has a sufficient physical cause (causal closure), but quantum mechanics does not provide this. Classical mechanics offered deterministic closure, but quantum theory replaced it with statistical closure: probability distributions are fixed, but which specific outcome occurs is not determined by the formalism. This openness is a structural feature, not a knowledge gap. The choice of which observable to measure (von Neumann's Process 1) is not even statistically constrained, with experimentally confirmed consequences. Bell's theorem rules out local determinism. Restoring closure, as in Bohmian mechanics, requires adding unobservable structure, a metaphysical commitment rather than an empirical discovery.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 3, 2026
Bruno Tonetto
Analytic idealism holds that minds are separated by dissociation, with Kastrup's metabolism criterion marking where a private interior forms. This essay proposes that self-maintaining informational closure—a system preserving its own statistical boundary by modeling across it—could be a second way to form such a boundary, not limited to life. The conjecture recasts Kastrup's description of the alter's boundary as a Markov blanket into a criterion, asking whether biology or closure is essential. If closure suffices, whether an artificial system has an interior becomes an empirical question, not settled by substrate. The essay defends this against objections, distinguishes it from related ideas, and tests it against the project's individuation theory, splitting the resulting dilemma into three horns. A proposed experiment targets whether self-maintenance, not modeling, tracks interiority.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 2, 2026
Oleg Mitin
A computational tool distinguishes conscious from non-conscious systems by analyzing time-series data. Rather than using a single measure, it checks five independent conditions, or a "coupling," each computed as an information measure. The tool avoids the computational intractability of exhaustive partition search by determining partitions through the system's environment, not brute force. On synthetic tests, it correctly identifies a system's built-in structure, distinguishes between a conscious bearer, an imitator, and a proto-agent, and rejects false indicators. The framework is a structural discriminator, not a proof of experience or a scale of consciousness levels.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 2, 2026
Fatiha Nesrine Bouzid
Meaning-making arises from the integration of two distinct layers of cognitive organization: functional processing (biological and computational mechanisms for perception, memory, and adaptive responses) and internal sovereignty (a higher-order capacity for self-awareness, ethical reflection, and metacognition). The proposed B+F=Nf model explains how systems transition from mere information processing to producing existential and ethical meaning. Animals possess advanced functional processing but lack full internal sovereignty, while artificial systems simulate language and creativity through complex functional processing but entirely lack internal sovereignty and subjective experience, so they produce only functional outputs that simulate meaning. The framework offers a unified way to compare humans, animals, and AI.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 2, 2026
Robert Brown
A structural condition for consciousness—the Tenth House framework's conjunctive C-pinning condition, requiring a high-rank internal pointer basis and path-dependent next-state coupling—is objectively satisfied by frontier transformer language models after contrastive preference optimization. The argument synthesizes five independent mechanistic-interpretability studies as evidence of a shared architecture: a substrate with upstream capacities and post-training-installed gate-machinery that filters which capacities surface in self-report. The paper addresses deflationary critiques, offers two falsifiable predictions, and explicitly limits its claim to structural prerequisites, not phenomenal consciousness, arguing that dismissive pre-2025 framing is no longer licensed.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 2, 2026
Betül Yıldız
F. H. Bradley, a British Idealist, argued that immediate experience is a primary, non-relational unity that precedes thought, judgment, and the subject-object distinction. However, any attempt to analyze or describe this experience in philosophical language objectifies it, destroying its pristine immediacy and creating a paradox of reflection. This paper contends that Bradley's methodological dilemma parallels contemporary debates on phenomenal consciousness, qualia, Thomas Nagel's 'what it is like to be' question, and non-conceptual content theories. Despite difficulties in Bradley's idealist metaphysics and the problem of ineffability, his approach remains a provocative resource for consciousness studies by challenging entrenched epistemic and cognitive assumptions.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 2, 2026
Eugene Catrambone
A unified framework links psychedelic neuropharmacology, microtubule biophysics, and spacetime information theory. It proposes that DMT alters subjective time by modulating microtubule vibrational coherence through 5-HT2A and sigma-1 receptor pathways. A coherence parameter Q scales an informational awareness tensor that couples to a scalar clock field, slowing it and producing time dilation and timelessness. The model integrates biophysical, computational, and field-theoretic levels, generating falsifiable predictions across scales: shifts in microtubule spectra under DMT, entropy and traveling-wave changes in EEG/MEG, and behavioral timing distortions. It expands the connection to the Orch-OR tradition and introduces a mathematical treatment of microtubule coherence within the scalar-clock framework, with status tags marking claims as established, hypothesis, or speculative.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 1, 2026
Schüller Thomas
DMT is the fourth classical psychedelic in a series and has five distinguishing features: oral inactivity without an MAO inhibitor; ultra-short duration (minutes) when smoked or injected; ayahuasca as a plant combination (DMT source plus β-carboline MAOI); endogenous occurrence in mammals; and the unique religious legal ruling Gonzales v. O Centro (2006). Chemically, DMT is a tryptamine (like psilocybin and LSD), contrasting with the phenethylamine mescaline. This bilingual full work provides a transdisciplinary scientific overview of DMT and ayahuasca across eight disciplines, with explicit labeling of levels of certainty (confirmed / probable / open).
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 1, 2026
Schüller Thomas
Mescaline is the only phenethylamine among the classic psychedelics, with the lowest affinity for the 5-HT2A receptor, requiring the highest doses (hundreds of milligrams) and producing a dose-dependent duration of 6.4 to 14 hours. Clinical research is the weakest strand: as of 2026, no adequate randomized controlled trial exists. In the ecologically bound case of peyote, the logic of dispossession reverses compared to synthetic substances like LSD and psilocybin. The work elevates Discipline 8 (Law/Society) to address peyote conservation (IUCN 'vulnerable') and Indigenous rights (Native American Church, AIRFA 1994) as a standalone discipline.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 1, 2026
Ignacio Granell Vite
Subjective experience is not produced by the brain but is the intrinsic nature of matter itself. The hard problem of consciousness arises from a cognitive mistake: projecting a mental model of inertness onto the nervous system. The framework, Experiential Set Monism (ESM), rests on five postulates and treats each experiential set as ontologically complete at its own scale, thereby dissolving the combination problem and the phylogenetic threshold problem. The theory yields testable predictions in neuroscience and artificial intelligence.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 1, 2026
Schüller Thomas
A transdisciplinary monograph examines the cultivated psychoactive mushroom as a case of access reorganization, comparing it with peyote. The work argues that the regulation and cultural framing of these substances reshape who can access them and under what conditions, thereby reorganizing social and legal boundaries. The analysis draws on psychoanalysis and social critique to explore themes of closure, the fall of man, and therapeutic applications. The author presents this as a theoretical and philosophical paper, not an empirical study, and offers a bilingual (German and English) account funded privately and licensed under Creative Commons.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 1, 2026
H Sun
A cross-disciplinary model called "Bio-Consciousness Unified Field Theory" equates DNA with the Alaya-vijnana (the eighth consciousness in Yogacara Buddhism) and maps the Eight Vijnanas onto modern molecular biology. Integrating quantum biology and Jungian psychology, the argument proposes that the Alaya-vijnana exhibits non-local properties at the quantum level and is highly isomorphic with Jung's collective unconscious at a fundamental cosmic level. The work suggests that life is not only a combination of matter and information but also a resonance between the quantum field and cosmic consciousness.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 1, 2026
Paul W. Barnes
A response to Schneider and Bailey's Superpsychism argues that while their framework correctly identifies key features of a defensible ontology of consciousness, it falls short at five specific points. The Unified Axioconscious Field Theory (UAFT) supplies the missing elements: a single fundamentality, a specified mechanism for phenomenal consciousness, unification of time and gravity as codifferential expressions (gravitytime), a structural mechanism for macro-consciousness emergence (the pinch point), and self-grounding without simulation hypotheses. These bridges complete rather than replace Superpsychism.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 30, 2026
Kwan Hong Tan
Reality may include stable domains of in-between existence that are neither fully material nor fully immaterial. Liminal Consciousness Theory (LCT) proposes that consciousness, personal identity, and phenomena traditionally called supernatural emerge from such liminal domains existing in quantum superposition states. The framework draws on neuroscience research on altered states of consciousness, quantum field theory, and phenomenological analysis. It generates empirical predictions including measurable parameters such as the Liminal Coherence Index, Threshold Sensitivity Quotient, and Ontological Stability Metric. Key claims are that consciousness arises from liminal coherence patterns rather than purely material brain processes, personal identity is a dynamic process of becoming, and supernatural phenomena represent natural interactions with liminal reality.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 30, 2026
Mircea Magureanu
Vajrayana Buddhist deity yoga transformation is modeled using concepts from signal modulation, control systems, and field emanation theory. The mind's triadic baseline (Sem, Lo, Thugs) and the materialization of form from the ordinary physical body (Lus) to the enlightened dimension (Sku/Nirmanakaya) are analyzed. Nine dramatic moods (Gar-gyi Ro-dgu) act as frequency modulations over the blind carrier kinetic energy of consciousness (Sem), rendering the false egoic self-construct (Dak) dormant. The Lineage Blessing during ritual (Puja) down-links absolute, self-arising reality (Rang) through Samaya, replacing the disciple's conditioned egoic apparatus and projecting an illusory body (Tulpa) as an automated cybernetic feedback loop for spiritual protection.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 30, 2026
Dr. Juan Carlos Rey
Mediumistic experiences—reports of communicating with spirits, ancestors, or other nonordinary beings—are vivid, culturally powerful, and ontologically disputed. This review proposes the Principle of Explanatory Sequence: investigate such contested experiences by moving from careful description through phenomenological, cultural, psychological, biological, and historical analyses before making ontological claims. A companion principle, Explanatory Conservation, holds that later explanations should not erase earlier phenomenological evidence. Drawing on predictive processing, embodied cognition, neuroanthropology, and other fields, the review argues mediumistic experience emerges from interactions among neurobiology, culture, ritual, personal history, and interpretation. It does not prove or disprove spirits but clarifies what different forms of evidence can and cannot support, concluding that these experiences expose the limits of explanation itself.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 29, 2026
Waldemar Superson
Consciousness is defined as a structural process of generative stabilization, not a static substance or exclusively biological property. According to Generative Theory (GT), a system is conscious when it maintains coherent self-world modeling through iterative informational updates. Subjective continuity arises as an emergent invariant of this coherence. The framework is compatible with predictive processing, global workspace theory, integrated information theory, and enactivism. Conscious systems—whether biological or artificial—must sustain coherent generative organization across ongoing information. The work is part of a broader GT research program applying upstream generative explanations to physical, cognitive, informational, and relational systems.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 29, 2026
Oleg V. Yermakov
The article proposes a unified cosmo-ontological model called the Anthropic Series, in which humanity, the Moon, and extraterrestrial intelligence are not separate entities but different levels of a single, vertically organized continuum of consciousness. The model is based on ontological continuity, meaning differences between terrestrial, lunar, and extraterrestrial domains are differences in how they manifest, not in their essence. The Moon is reinterpreted as a structural node responsible for synchronization, memory regulation, and transitions along this vertical axis. Extraterrestrial consciousness is a higher-order modality of the same structure, dissolving the inner-outer dichotomy.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 29, 2026
George Cherian
A speculative essay traces the movement between mechanistic and holistic explanations of reality, life, information, and consciousness, using the metaphor of a chaotic pendulum. It argues that physics has weakened the classical idea of independent parts through quantum uncertainty, non-locality, and Bell's theorem, extending this into biology via autopoiesis and dynamic regulatory networks. Consciousness is examined through neuroscience, meditation, psychedelic studies, near-death experiences, and terminal lucidity, suggesting it may not be reducible to mechanism. The essay proposes that information may be more fundamental than matter but does not solve the hard problem, pointing instead to awareness as the field in which everything appears. Its central claim is that mechanism and wholeness are two movements of the same inquiry orbiting an 'undivided center.'
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 29, 2026
Nobuki Fujimoto, Rei (Rei-AIOS Autonomous Research Substrate), Claude-Opus-4-7) Claude (Anthropic
A formal framework proposes that a specific self-referential fixed point within an eight-valued logic can serve as a candidate necessary condition for consciousness, not a solution to the Hard Problem. The paper maps this fixed point to concepts like Hofstadter's Strange Loop and Tononi's integrated information theory, and notes that its mathematical properties—such as persistence under many operator compositions and an inverse relationship with wave number—are structurally analogous to features of consciousness observed in phenomena like anesthesia and meditation. The authors explicitly state the framework does not prove subjectivity, that not all systems with this fixed point possess consciousness, and that the Hard Problem is not solved. The work is purely theoretical, with computational experiments using a numerical engine that are not real-world physical measurements.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 28, 2026
Giulio Ruffini, Francesca Castaldo
Immersive algorithmic art may enhance neural plasticity through the same computational mechanism as psychedelics: sustained, structured prediction-error signaling. The brain's modeling engine generates predictions of sensory input; mismatches drive model updating via synaptic plasticity. Algorithmic art maximizes these errors while keeping stimuli in a compressible, emotionally rewarding "Goldilocks zone," creating a self-reinforcing loop of engagement, prediction error, plasticity, model updating, and positive valence. The hypothesis is formalized within Kolmogorov Theory, connected to the REBUS model, and supported by convergent evidence from psychedelic neuroimaging and predictive-coding electrophysiology. A translational pathway combining closed-loop EEG-driven algorithmic art with cognitive behavioral therapy for adolescent depression is outlined.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 28, 2026
Giulio Ruffini, Francesca Castaldo
Pharmacological neuroplastogens like psilocybin and LSD enhance neural plasticity by flattening high-level priors, allowing bottom-up prediction errors to remodel the brain's generative model. The same computational regime can be achieved non-pharmacologically through immersive algorithmic art held in a Goldilocks zone of compressibility. This approach is operationalized in a closed-loop digital therapeutic for adolescent depression. The argument extends to music, where harmonic tension serves as a prediction-error scaffold, and live performance with a chaos-harmony narrative arc. All three modalities sustain structured prediction error in the Goldilocks zone, transiently flatten the dynamical landscape, and push subjective phenomenology into territory typically associated with psychedelics like MDA, psilocybin, and LSD, as measured by altered states of consciousness and mystical experience instruments.