Ontological Considerations of Qualia: The Driving Force of Life Preceding Consciousness

As a result of connecting the metaphysical and the physical using the eight-layer structure model last time, I found something interesting.

That is that qualia were far more important than I had thought.

Therefore, this time, based on the "eight-layer structure model" I announced the other day, I have decided to publish a new paper that re-examines the ontological status of qualia (subjective quality of experience),"Ontological Considerations of Qualia Based on the Eight-Layer Structure Model: The Driving Force of Life Preceding Consciousness," and announce it.

What this paper proposes is the importance of qualia as mentioned above, and areversal of the perspective on the existence of qualia.

1. Did consciousness and qualia emerge in highly developed brains?

Most existing consciousness research has treated qualia as a "byproduct accompanying high-level brain functions."

In other words,

1. the brain became complex,

2. consciousness sprouted,

3. qualia emerged in consciousness,

is the sequence.

However, there is a decisive problem with this view.

That is, how do simple organisms without consciousness adapt to their environment without qualia (the quality of sensation)?

That is the question.
Humans recognize things like hot, cold, pain, or likes and dislikes through qualia, but if qualia only exist because there is consciousness, how do organisms without brains or with only simple brains grasp their environment and survive without the existence of such sensory qualities?

We know that this is not just a simple reflex, as even single-celled organisms adapt to pressure and chemical substances, and their reactions change.

2. "Qualia first, consciousness later"

In this paper, I willcompletely reverse the order of consciousness and qualia that has been considered conventionally.

In other words, qualia are not products of a highly developed brain, butthe fundamental driving force of life that exists from the single-cell level—this is the core argument of this paper.

Specifically, I will segment qualia into the following four stages.

• C1 Primitive Qualia: A cellular-level function where "differences are felt as differences"

• C2 Structured Qualia: Qualia structured by the nervous system

• C3 Controlled Qualia: Qualia highly regulated by the brain

• C4 Conscious Qualia: Advanced qualia involving introspective functions

What is important is that C1 (Primitive Qualia) is the foundation of everything.

3. Why Qualia are 'Essential to Life'

In the eight-layer model, qualia (Layer 6) are not merely 'feelings.' They are a logical necessity for life to continue to exist dynamically.

Three functions necessary for the continuation of life

1. Point of action for free will
   Layer 6 is a unique reality that is 'objectively unknowable but subjectively knowable,' and it is through this that free will acts.

2. Generation of the future
   In the eight-layer model, the interaction between Group B (beliefs, norms, etc.), C (qualia), and D (matter) continues to generate an 'undetermined future.' The core of this dynamic process lies in Layer 6.

3. Minimal evaluation function
   When a single-celled organism moves toward light, it requires a silent evaluation that senses the 'difference between here and there.' This is the function of primitive qualia.

4. The Brain is a 'Qualia Control Device'

Through this shift in perspective, the role of the brain is fundamentally redefined.

In the conventional view, it has been assumed that the brain 'creates' qualia.

However, this paper posits that the brain is a control and integration device that bundles and integrates primitive qualia driven at the cellular level throughout the body, rendering them as high-resolution experiences.

To use an orchestra as an analogy, this structure is as follows:

• Each cell in the body (instrument) plays a primitive tone (C1)

• The nervous system bundles them (C2)

• The brain integrates them as a conductor (C3)

• We experience the completed symphony as 'consciousness' (C4)

This is the structure.

5. What does the 'delay of consciousness' mean?

Benjamin Libet's famous experiment showed that 'brain activity begins before conscious intention,' which some commentators have interpreted as a denial of free will.

However, the interpretation in this paper is the exact opposite.

In other words,

1. Primitive qualia of the whole body evaluate the environment (C1)

2. The nervous system integrates them (C2)

3. The brain governs and prepares for action (C3) ← This is what Libet observed

4. Hundreds of milliseconds later, consciousness recognizes 'I decided' (C4)

The 'readiness potential' that Libet observed is the driving force by the governing qualia (C3) that precedes consciousness (C4) itself.

Free will does not reside in consciousness, which is a 'report that arrives late,' but in the qualia that precede it.

6. The Philosophical Significance of 'Objective Unknowability'

Another important claim of this paper is that qualia are structurally 'objectively unknowable'.

・Why are they unknowable?

Even if science could reproduce 'the same brain structure = the same qualia,' it would be impossible to verify whether they are 'truly the same qualia.'

This is because the moment a verifier experiences that quale, it becomes a 'dual quale' filtered through the verifier's subjectivity, making pure comparison logically impossible.

In other words, no matter how much qualia are elucidated, it means that ultimately, 'subjective qualia' will continue to possess the attribute of being unknowable to others due to an epistemological limit close to the 'thing-in-itself'.

・The meaning of this unknowability

Being unknowable is not a defect.
Rather, the objective unknowability of qualia is the final barrier that prevents the homogenization and disappearance of the individual.

In other words, the fact that your 'feeling of redness' cannot be completely objectified is the guarantee that you are a 'unique existence that cannot be replaced by others.'

7. Conclusion: What this paper signifies

Implications for brain science and biology

1. Research on response mechanisms in unicellular organisms provides a new perspective
   The premise that there is a primitive 'evaluation' there, rather than just 'stimulus → response'

2. Reinterpretation of the evolution of the nervous system as a system that 'regulates' rather than 'generates' qualia
   

3. Understanding the emergence of consciousness where qualia are not the product of consciousness, but consciousness is a highly integrated form of qualia
   

Philosophical Significance

• A new approach to the mind-body problem

• Structural redefinition of the free will debate

• Clarification of the ontological basis of the 'individual'

8. Limitations of this paper and future prospects

This paper remains limited to theoretical implications through philosophy, leaving empirical verification to experts.

To be honest, I only understand scientific topics at the level of slow-paced explanatory videos, so providing a new research perspective through the presentation of a conceptual framework is the limit.

I hope that this theoretical framework will be verified in fields such as neurobiology, behavioral science, and mechanobiology in the future.

Access to the paper

↓ Eight-layer structure model (connection between the metaphysical and the physical) ↓

Ontological considerations of qualia based on the eight-layer structure model: The driving force of life preceding consciousness ↓

↓ Paper publication page including others (universal ethics) ↓

Conclusion: Life is 'to continue feeling'

To summarize the conclusion reached in this paper in one word,

Before we are "thinking beings," we are first "feeling beings."

And that "power to feel" can be called the fundamental driving force that runs through all life, from single-celled organisms to humanity.

If we follow the phrase that life is an ark of genes, then qualia are the helmsmen of life, and they are what make life, life.

Conclusion

Following the establishment of universal ethics, the overcoming of ethics, and the connection between the metaphysical and the physical, somehow, I have created something else that is outrageous.

If this philosophical implication is correct, qualia are far more important to life than previously thought, and they have the potential to cause a Copernican revolution in the philosophy of consciousness, brain science, and qualia structural studies.

Well, biology and brain science are fields that are now impossible for me to prove on my own, so this paper is 100% a hobby.

And, it just occurred to me, if we look at the digital artificial brain experiment I thought about before in light of the findings of this paper, we can see that humanity has, before we knew it, reached a point where artificial intelligence with consciousness is within reach.

This is because humanity has already succeeded in emulating the possessor of primitive qualia (nematodes) in digital space.

Perhaps, if we form a nervous system and brain based on this nematode emulation and increase the structural complexity, we will likely create an artificial consciousness with qualia.

This would not be an imitation of humanity like an LLM, but theoretically, it should become a true artificial intelligence that possesses both the sensibility and intelligence of life.

Well, I cannot conduct the experiment myself, but the dream is expanding.