Consciousness as a fundamental phenomenon, the body as temporary host
Statement
Universal source (US) and Individual consciousness (IC) is a fundamental phenomenon outside of matter and time. The brain is a receiver that manifests individual consciousness in the physical world.
Individual consciousness (ШС) is not emergent from brain (Physical Receiver, PR), but PR serves as a temporary material interface for its manifestation.
The death of the body breaks the connection, but consciousness remains 'on the other side'. Qualia is an imprint of this essence.
Principles
Based on these principles, we define the ontological and principal functional structure of consciousness and space-matter-time.
Principle #1
Truth over adaptability: The hypothesis adjusted when there is objective evidence that it is false, not for the sake of adaptation to data.
If the data objectively refutes US or/and IC, we revise the hypothesis, rather than ignore the data.
Principle #2
Compatibility with existing theories: US and IC should be reflected in space-matter-time, the theory of natural selection, quantum field theory, gravity theory and other basic concepts of physics.
If the data objectively refutes existence of US and IC, we revise the hypothesis, rather than ignore the data.
If the reflection turns out to be unstable to a reasonable refutation, we revise the hypothesis rather than ignore the data.
Ultimate source (US)
Description: A primary entity existing before any other phenomena, spaces, matter, concepts. A primary ontological initiator, which itself is uncaused, and the basis of all entities. Not studied and not a part of landscape of theory.
Role: The source of IC
Appendix 1: Ontological Justification of Ultimate Source (US)
Individual consciousness (IC)
Description: An entity created outside of matter and time, and is their witness (chapter Reality on this page).
Role: The source of subjective experience (qualia) and the basis of all manifestations of an individual's consciousness.
Physical Receiver (PR)
Description: The brain is the material interface through which consciousness (IC) interacts with the physical world.
Role: Interface between IC and the body, providing the connection consciousness - awareness, intentions - actions, actions - awareness.
Barrier (B)
Description: An insurmountable barrier between the material and the immaterial.
Role: Causes a gap between consciousness and body after death - IC is not destroyed, but its connection with PR is severed.
Neural Activity (NA)
Connection: PR (Physical Receiver).
Description: Measured brain activity (EEG, fMRI). Terms qualia and сorrelates with conscious actions, but does not define them or reveal the nature of IC.
Time: Active until death of the body.
Cases of preserved consciousness (SC)
Connection: IC + PR.
Description: Documented cases of consciousness in severe brain dysfunction or trauma (coma, NDE). Confirm that IC can be preserved regardless of the functional state of PR.
Time: Borderline states between life and death.
See Appendix 2: Empirical Examples
Indirect indicators of qualia (IQ)
Connection: Q (Qualia).
Description: Manifestations indicating the presence of subjective experience that is not reducible to NA. Examples are discrepancies in perception[1] with external similarity of conditions.
Time: Constant in living beings.
[1] E.g., the ‘inverted spectrum’ thought experiment and other perceptual divergences.
Disconnect (DC)
Connection: B (Barrier) + PR.
Description: The death of the body destroys the receiver (PR), but does not prove nor confirm the disappearance of the IC.
Time: From the moment of death onwards.
Time dimension
T0 (Before birth): IC exists "on the other side", without connection with PR.
T1 (Life): IC manifests through PR, Q is observable, NA is active, SC is possible.
T2 (Death): DC breaks the connection of IC and PR from the non-material side. B blocks the interaction and observation of IC. Q and NA cease in the physical world.
T3 (After death): IC hypothetically persists "on the other side", but is not available for verification due to B.
Reality
Branches of Reality
Reality is not one - it is a graph, a network of roads or a branched tree of decisions, where all possible forks and outcomes already exist. Each choice does not create something new, but switches attention to another line, already existing.
Dead-end Branches
Some branches lead to a dead end, where consciousness becomes trapped, sometimes forever. They materialize as a consequence of the wrong choice, including a reaction to external pressure - malicious or random. Such a movement is accompanied by a fall into automatism and a loss of ethics.
At the same time, not every unethical or destructive branch contradicts the logic of consciousness.
Often, such a path leads to the strengthening of the body within matter-time, and may therefore represent a conscious choice made within the bounds of permitted freedom.
It is a fork all the same — simply one that leads to experience, not to clarity.
Collective Consciousness
We are not alone. Common ideas, coincidences, premonitions are not accidents, but overlapping of a viewpoints or observation points. We are leaves of one tree, sometimes we see each other in the gaps between branches and on the roads that we walk.
How to apply this knowledge? What landmarks does a traveler have on the road network?
Practice
Every moment is a fork. Destiny is determined by free choice. The choice is correct if it is based on a clear and ethically pure motivation. Dead-end branches can be abandoned, the true ones become in the absence of ethical issues, including aggression, greed, complacency, and arrogance.
The true branch is not necessarily the one that leads to external success. On the contrary, many of them disguise themselves as growth, but end in the loss of will, submission to illusions and ethical deafness. The real path is the one where attention remains alive, and the choice is free from coercion and submission to generally accepted and mass standards. Which in no way excludes that very success, but in this case imposes enormous responsibility, and creates enormous difficulties in achieving it.
Consciousness is not a prisoner of matter and time, but its traveler and witness.
Appendix 1: Ontological Justification of Ultimate Source (US)
Purpose
To substantiate the necessity, presence and status of Ultimate Source as the primary causal entity in the Synthetic Theory of Consciousness.
The need for US
Thesis
Consciousness (IC) cannot be self-caused, and matter and time cannot generate consciousness. Therefore, there must be something outside of them, which is the source.
Argument
If:
- IC exists outside of matter, space and time,
- And IC is not derived from matter.
Then:
It is necessary to postulate a primary cause independent of matter, time, and IC itself.
Conclusion
To ensure ontological consistency, the existence of an entity preceding IC, matter and time, the Ultimate source (US), is necessary.
The immeasurability of the US
Thesis
The absolute cannot be an object of measurement.
Argument
If:
- An entity consists of parts, it can be measured,
- The absolute essence does not consist of parts.
Then:
US cannot be measured, because otherwise it would be relative.
Conclusion
US is not subject to quantitative or structural decomposition.
The uniqueness of the US
Thesis
If there were many US, they would be different, which means they would be measurable.
Argument
If:
- Multiplicity implies difference.
- The difference implies structure.
- Structure implies measure.
Then:
Any multiplicity denies absoluteness.
Conclusion
The US can only be one. The plural "US" is impossible without losing its absolute status.
The consequences of the US in the world
Thesis
Although US is unobservable, its consequences logically follow in the form of an ordered world.
Argument
If:
- There is a consistency of laws and structures in the physical world.
- Such consistency is not possible if the source were multiple, chaotic, or derived.
Then:
The orderliness of being is an indirect[1] indication of a single, unobservable cause.
Conclusion
The observable consistency of the physical world supports the necessity of a unified, non-observable ontological source (US).
[1] The cause itself is beyond observation, and only its structured consequences are accessible.
State in theory
Formulation
Ultimate source (US) is not a part of the architecture of consciousness, but a necessary metaphysical postulate derived from the requirement of ontological consistency.
Restrictions
- Not subject to investigation.
- Has no qualia.
- Has no dynamics (neither changes nor interacts within time).
- Is a source of IC and space-matter-time.
Total
Ultimate source (US) must be postulated as:
- A reason without a reason, necessary cause beyond causality.
- It is absolute, solid, immeasurable.
- A source of consciousness (IC) and space-matter-time.
Any theory of consciousness that claims to be complete must either include the US or admit an insurmountable ontological gap.
Appendix 2: The Impact of STOC on the Concept of Natural Selection and Geometry Beyond Space, Matter and Time
Purpose
To consider the implications of the Synthetic Theory of Consciousness (STOC) for classical scientific concepts, in particular:
- Natural selection as a biological mechanism.
- Geometry as the fundamental structure of being.
Impact of STOC on the concept of natural selection
Classical definition
Natural selection is the process by which individuals with traits that are favorable for survival and reproduction in the current environment are more likely to pass on their genes to the next generation. It is considered one of the main mechanisms of biological evolution, based on genetic randomness and reproductive fitness.
Contradiction with STOC
STOC states that consciousness (IC) does not arise from matter, but is attached to the body from the outside at birth. Therefore:
- Material attributes (genes, brain structure) are not the source of consciousness.
- Reproductive fitness does not guarantee the emergence of IC.
- The emergence of IC is associated with an extra-biological act.
Consequences
- Natural selection remains a working model for the material attributes, behavior, and adaptation of bodies, but does not explain the nature of subjectivity.
- IC may enter the biological system not as a consequence, but as a purpose.
- This brings metaphysics back to the question: is the body not selected "for consciousness," and not vice versa?
Conclusion
STOC does not abolish natural selection, but moves consciousness beyond it, making selection not a universal explanation, but a particular mechanism within PR (Physical Receiver).
The influence of STOC on space-time geometry
Classical representation
Geometry is a description of the structure of space and time, expressed in coordinates, metrics and symmetries. It assumes measurability and interaction of elements within the overall system.
Contradiction with STOC
STOC states the existence of:
- US (Ultimate Source) — entities outside of time and space.
- IC — consciousnesses, also outside of the physical coordinate grid.
This means:
- Geometry cannot describe the US and IC levels directly.
- Any model of geometry accessible to observation must be generated by PR, i.e. applicable only within the manifested world. However, recent theoretical constructions — such as the amplituhedron, cosmological polytope and symplectic structures — may indicate the existence of a pre-geometric phase, partially extending beyond classical space-time. Within the STOC framework, such constructions are interpreted as threshold or projection forms, on the border between PR and the level of IC and other potential immaterial entities. They do not reach the US level, since the US as an absolute entity can neither be described nor measured.
Possible consequences
- Geometry outside of space and time must be non-quantitative: not including measurements, but only relations, potencies, boundaries of manifestation.
- This brings STOC closer to metageometries and abstract structures in mathematics, such as categorical descriptions and topological relations that go beyond classical space. However, like any formal system, STOC in its development ultimately encounters limitations similar to Gödel's incompleteness theorems: if it leads to a mathematical structure, it cannot be both complete and consistent. The presence of US in STOC allows one to avoid direct logical-mathematical closure, since the absolute is not included in the formal system and remains an external axiomatic support, not subject to internal contradiction.
- It is possible to develop a projective logical geometry, where the relations between entities are not spatial but ontological.
- STOC as a formal theory potentially falls under the limitations of Gödel's incompleteness theorems. However, the presence of US as an external, non-formalizable support allows us to avoid logical-mathematical closure: US is not part of the system and does not require proof from within. This provides STOC with an axiomatic anchor outside of logical completeness, preserving internal consistency without requiring absolute completeness.
Conclusion
STOC requires a revision of geometry as a universal language for describing existence. Space-time geometry is a special case, accessible only to PR.