Phase Theory of Consciousness

Note: This theory does not attempt to explain what consciousness is, only to explain how it might interface with the brain.

In 2020 I engaged in a rigorous meditation regimen, after which I began to experience a variety of unexplainable phenomena. One of these was astral projection, in which my consciousness seemed to exit my body and exist for a short time in a fully-lucid state in what seemed to be another world entirely.

This phenomenon is normally preceded by something known as the “vibrational state”, which is best described as the sensation of being unceremoniously plugged into a high-voltage electrical outlet. The body, while appearing still from the outside, is gripped head to toe by a massive vibrational surge which triggers a overwhelming fight or flight response. Overcoming this primal fear is the first step in learning to AP, because it is only during this state that one can successfully “separate” from the body. Once separated, the vibrations disappear.

If we take it at face-value, the vibrational state provides clues as to the nature of consciousness. The fact that such an unusual state is a prerequisite to astral projection implies that the interface between the brain and consciousness may be wave-like.

In this model, the vibrational state is the interference pattern caused when the consciousness “signal” shifts out of phase with the brain’s. This is experienced viscerally because we’re dealing with raw, unfiltered consciousness slapping against competing signals.

Assuming consciousness is wave-like, how does it “bind” to the brain and share information? The simplest way would be through synchronization.

Synchronization

Phase synchronization is a natural phenomenon seen in many coupled systems, whether physical or electrical. It’s the reason soldiers march across bridges out of step, and it’s used commonly in the electrical grid to synchronize multiple AC sources into a single matched frequency.

When two signals are coupled, they tend to fall into into a common rhythm. The signals are still separate, but they appear identical unless one moves out of phase, an act which is naturally resisted by the coupling itself.

That the brain produces electrical signals is not disputed, and recent research suggests that thalamo-cortical resonance may play a role in consciousness. Thus we can imagine a scenario in which either some or all of the brain acts as a kind of oscillator, producing a signal which consciousness is coupled with. Once in phase, the two become indistinguishable and to an outside observer there would appear to be only one signal (the brain’s).

A Phase Theory of Consciousness

Phase sync delivers the basic requirements for a brain / consciousness interface: Coupled signals naturally share information bidirectionally and have practically unlimited bandwidth.

In this model, all sensory input–vision, touch, taste, etc—is caused by the brain’s own signals pushing against consciousness, causing the resultant subjective experiences. On the flip side, everything volitional—our movements, speech, actions, etc—are the result of consciousness pushing against the brain’s neurons.

This theory explains, among other things, the subjective experience of willpower. If you want to stop yourself from eating a cookie, your consciousness must overcome your force of habit, otherwise you “give in” and eat the cookie. In this model, your desire to eat the cookie can be quantified as a direct function of your brain’s electrical wiring, and your willpower can also be quantified as an electrical force, which must be strong enough to inhibit the firing of those neurons.

Phase Theory also explains other peculiarities of consciousness such as why we can be “knocked out” by a punch—the force only needs to be sufficient enough to kick the signals out of phase. Once sync naturally re-establishes itself, consciousness is restored.

Meditation & Amplitude

Phase theory explains why meditation—the simple act of sitting still and focusing—causes the variety of unusual effects that it does: Regular, prolonged focus serves to strengthen the “consciousness signal” like a muscle, ultimately allowing it to become dominant and break out of phase.

This explains why astral projection only occurs under conditions where the brain is relatively inactive, such as sleep or deep meditation. Consciousness, being the weaker signal, can only compete with the brain once the latter is sufficiently calm.

Extraordinary Claims

It’s a fine theory, but nothing matters if we can’t test it, so how do we do that? First we have to guess at how consciousness might influence neurons.

There are only two known ways to reliably influence the firing of neurons: chemical (via neurotransmitters) and electrical (via voltage-gated ion channels). Chemical synthesis is much too slow to keep pace with consciousness, therefore the interface is most likely electrical.

While we don’t know the exact “shape” of our hypothetical consciousness-body, we can assume that it is either similar to the brain itself, or it is located in a part of the brain which offers wide connectivity to the rest of the brain.

A good candidate for this location is the thalamus, which is often called the “communications hub” of the brain, and which by no coincidence is also the area that most general anesthetics target. It is also the only part of the brain aside from the brainstem which induces a permanent coma if removed.

So now we have a consciousness “signal” coupled to the brain’s “signal”. Due to the properties of phase sync, communication is a two-way street: Consciousness has influence over neurons, and neurons have influence over consciousness. All of our cognitive processes are the result of this dynamic, between the inertia of the brain’s inborn wiring and our consciousness attempting to override or rewire it.

Note that such an arrangement cannot allow consciousness complete control of the nervous system— after all, there are things in the body we can’t control such as heartbeat, reflexes, digestion, etc. Therefore the neurons involved in those pathways would show some kind of difference, whether in the type of ion channel(s) present or some other property isolating them from direct control.

Also note that this model does not attempt to explain what consciousness is, but only how it might interface with the brain

Putting It To The Test

Now we have a rough model of what our brain / consciousness interface looks like, so how do we test it?

Actually, there’s one more assumption we’re making which is that consciousness itself is exerting an electrical force with no intermediary. It’s entirely possible that it exerts some other kind of force that the brain then converts into voltage, but for the time being we’ll assume that whatever consciousness is, some part of it can exert an electrical influence.

Therefore our requirements are to build a device which:

Detects very small voltages at high impedance
Does so in an environment electrically similar to the brain
Can be isolated from both ambient RF and local power
Logs data automatically
Does so with off-the-shelf components