New hypothesis paper argues consciousness and cognition are separate evolutionary lineages, with six falsifiable predictions
rjhaier · x · 2026-09-03
Jeff Stibel published a hypothesis paper in Frontiers in Neuroscience arguing:
- Cognition and consciousness are separate evolutionary lineages; consciousness arises when an organism must coordinate conflicting regulatory processes affecting its own viability
- Functional precursors predate nervous systems, first appearing in boundary-preserving chemical and metabolic regulation, forming a ladder of proto-control, meta-control, and settlement control
- Implication: artificial consciousness won't emerge from cognitive sophistication alone — it requires self-maintaining systems that settle competing demands under real constraint
- The framework yields six falsifiable predictions across comparative biology, neuroscience, and AI
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