URA - Consciousness

The Recursive Attractor Framework (RAF) proposes that phenomenal consciousness is identical to a specific class of recursive electromagnetic field attractors in the brain, not merely correlated with them. The framework defines four necessary conditions and five measurable criteria, including a diagnostic Recursion Index computable from EEG data. Version 8 retires a previously reported significant result (p=0.039) as a bug artifact after identifying two compounding errors; the corrected analysis yielded p=0.9700. New preliminary results show Lempel-Ziv complexity (S(t)) from a ketamine dataset was higher in 9 of 10 subjects under ketamine than wakefulness (p=0.0098, Cohen's d=0.

Study at a glance

Abstract

URA — Consciousness: The Recursive Attractor Framework — A Physical Theory of Interiority This paper presents the Recursive Attractor Framework (RAF), a physical theory proposing that phenomenal consciousness is identical to a specific class of recursive electromagnetic (EM) field attractors in the brain — not produced by them, correlated with them, or represented in them, but identical to them. The framework is grounded in four necessary conditions (U1–U4) for a physical system to generate an interior, operationalized by five measurable criteria (C1–C5) and a scalar diagnostic instrument, the Recursion Index R(t) = κ₀ · I(t) · R*(t), computable from existing EEG and TMS-EEG datasets. Version 8 adds four updates to v7. All prior content is preserved. The first update explicitly retires the B(t) p=0.039 result from the Chennu 2016 dataset as a bug artifact. Two compounding errors were identified in the implementation: incorrect ordinal pattern encoding in the symbolic transfer entropy computation, and a wrong TE formula in the denominator. The corrected implementation produced p=0.9700, wrong direction. The B(t) theoretical construct is retained as a live construct with partial support, but as of this version B(t) has zero confirmed empirical instances. Phase 1 validation of B(t) is the highest empirical priority. The second update adds a new preliminary empirical results section (5.3). Two results are reported. First, Lempel-Ziv complexity (S(t)) computed on the Farnes ketamine dataset shows 9/10 subjects with LZc ketamine > LZc wakefulness (Wilcoxon p=0.0098, Cohen's d=0.647, medium effect) — directionally consistent with RAF's prediction that ketamine preserves S(t) while disrupting behavioral responsiveness. Second, the Bajwa propofol dataset shows LZc dropping 38% while delta power simultaneously increases 685% across all 8 subjects (both p=0.0039, large effect) — a dissociation that cannot be explained by the standard account that complexity tracks power. Both results are reported with full caveats and do not constitute Phase 1 R validation. The third update corrects the propofol description in the state-space predictions table. Previous versions described propofol as producing globally low C(t). The corrected description reflects the known anteriorization phenomenon: propofol disrupts posterior alpha coherence while amplifying frontal alpha, producing reorganization rather than global suppression. Weiner et al. (2023, PNAS) is added to references and cited in this context. The fourth update adds Weiner et al. (2023) to the reference list. All v7 content is preserved. The five v7 updates (EM substrate uniqueness derivation, B(t) double-duty temporal separation, in utero/ex utero distinction, geometric mean as modeling choice, fMEG references) remain in the document. Companion papers: Paper 2 (Recursion From Within: The Hard Problem of Consciousness) and Paper 3 (The Unified Recursive Architecture) are published separately in this deposit.