Temporal Integration, Bidirectional Criticality and Emergence of Consciousness Hierarchy V42

Existing consciousness theories emphasize static causal structures but overlook the brain's 20-watt power constraint and temporal dynamics, failing to unify phenomena like parasomnias, clinical disorders, and cross-species differences. This paper proposes a hierarchical self-referential closed-loop model based on three axioms: limited resources, survival goals, and discrete inputs. The model quantifies consciousness via temporal span (T), reconstructive activity (A), and closed-loop integrity (C), deriving a two-step emergence geometry and distinguishing System B (automated archiving) from System A (temporal self-narrative). It identifies language as a natural metric for T, A, and C, and offers a diagnostic framework for Alzheimer's versus vascular cognitive impairment, along with unified explanations for sleepwalking, dreaming, anesthesia, and empathy.

Study at a glance

Abstract

现有意识理论偏重静态因果结构,忽视人脑20瓦功耗约束与时序动力学核心地位,难以统一解释睡眠异态、临床意识异常、跨物种层级差异等多元现象。本文以资源有限、存续目标、离散输入三条基础公理为推演起点,建构由时序跨度T、重构活跃度A、闭环完整度C量化描述的自指闭环层级意识模型。模型推导出自指闭环“对折成圈(资源收敛)+锚定成面(自我归因)”的两步涌现几何,区分自动化素材归档System B与时序叙事System A双系统,阐明遗忘的双重机制与记忆的叙事建构本质,推导门控三态、下行调制、信息单向约束等核心规则。依托双向临界效应划分L0至L3五级意识谱系,发现语言是T、A、C的天然测量标尺(每一句完整句子均为微型自指闭环),并据此提出阿尔茨海默病与血管性认知障碍的分型诊断框架。模型可统一解释低血糖躯体焦虑、梦游、梦境、麻醉、共情分层等现象,碳基生命意识涌现的演化条件,明确AGI与分布式意识的生成门槛,并提出可检验实验假说。相较现有理论,本框架具备统一底层公理、跨领域完整解释力、可量化变量标尺三大原创优势。 Existing theories of consciousness tend to emphasize static causal structures while overlooking both the 20-watt power constraint of the human brain and the central role of temporal dynamics. As a result, they fail to provide a unified account of diverse phenomena including parasomnias, clinical consciousness disorders, and cross-species hierarchical differences. This paper takes three fundamental axioms—limited resources, survival-maintenance goals, and discrete external inputs—as its sole deductive starting point, and constructs a hierarchical self-referential closed-loop model of consciousness quantified by three core variables: temporal span (T), reconstructive activity (A), and closed-loop integrity (C). The model derives a two-step emergence geometry for the self-referential loop—"folding into a circle" (resource convergence) followed by "anchoring into a surface" (self-attribution)—and distinguishes between System B (automated memory archiving) and System A (temporal self-narrative). It elucidates the dual mechanisms of forgetting and the narrative-constructive nature of memory, and deduces core operating principles including three-state gating, downward modulation, and unidirectional information constraint. Based on the bidirectional critical effect, a five-level consciousness spectrum from L0 to L3 is established. Language is identified as a natural metric for T, A, and C (each grammatically complete sentence constitutes a micro self-referential loop), leading to a differential diagnostic framework for Alzheimer's disease versus vascular cognitive impairment. The model provides unified explanations for phenomena including hypoglycemic somatic anxiety, sleepwalking, dreaming, anesthesia, and hierarchical empathy; clarifies the evolutionary conditions for the emergence of carbon-based consciousness; specifies the thresholds for AGI and distributed consciousness; and proposes a set of testable experimental hypotheses. Compared with existing theories, this framework offers three original advantages: unified foundational axioms, comprehensive cross-domain explanatory power, and quantifiable variable metrics. This Version 42is the latest compressed official manuscript; all prior full uncompressed drafts (V1–V41) are obsolete and superseded.