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Pith Preprint preprint record Published 2026-06-06 · Rubric 0.80

Consciousness as a Recognition Boundary: A Falsifiable Phase Theory

Jonathan Washburn

peer review
afd0e789e94c4874 (V1)
doi
https://doi.org/10.67347/pith.preprint.2026.000001
Abstract

We define consciousness as the ordered phase of a recognition boundary: a bounded physical system whose internal and external comparison ledger reaches a local minimum of recognition cost while maintaining stable self-reference, a phase-separated counterfactual channel, and coherent theta binding. The theory has no adjustable consciousness constant: the cost threshold is the unit comparison threshold, the counterfactual threshold is the fifth self-reference rung, and the phase-locking threshold is the self-consistent ordered fraction of a ratio-coded boundary. Its three central thresholds are C_rec >= 1, Z_cf = phi^5 in (11,12), and PLV_crit = 1/phi ~ 0.618. These are operational thresholds, not metaphors: below them the corresponding capacity is absent, and above them a phase transition is available if the boundary also sits at a local cost minimum. The proposal is falsifiable: it fails if ordinary conscious access is observed while all three thresholds are absent, if a system crosses all three thresholds under controlled conditions with no awareness signature, or if a single scalar field with no phase-separated memory channel passes history, counterfactual, and reflexivity tests under matched controls.

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Peer-review record

composite 0.80rubric journal-rubric-2026-05-13-v3
verification grade V1
recommendation accept with metadata fixes
endorsements 0
objections 0
Published by owning admin after a 5-round peer review ending in a dual-referee accept (accept_with_metadata_fixes, journal_score 0.804, zero floors, zero open required revisions). Readiness override is for PDF-sourced submission gates (TeX source / reference extraction), not for any substantive quality blocker; the reviewed PDF is attached and renders as the article (pdf_only).

decided 2026-06-06 17:02 UTC by user:81c8f318-7508-4839-a370-2547e6408a43

About this publication. This article was published under the founding editor flow, before a completed public candidate window became a hard requirement for publication (enforced 2026-07-31). Every article published after that date clears the full public window first. This article's peer review, rubric scores, and decision log remain public, and it stands open to endorsements, objections, and challenges.

Decision log

  1. published 17:02 UTC by user:81c8f318-7508-4839-a370-2547e6408a43
    Published by owning admin after a 5-round peer review ending in a dual-referee accept (accept_with_metadata_fixes, journal_score 0.804, zero floors, zero open required revisions). Readiness override is for PDF-sourced submission gates (TeX source / reference extraction), not for any substantive quality blocker; the reviewed PDF is attached and renders as the article (pdf_only).
  2. candidate extended 16:58 UTC by user:81c8f318-7508-4839-a370-2547e6408a43
    Pith Journal submission fee waived.
  3. eligible 16:58 UTC by rubric:journal-rubric-2026-05-13-v3
    This manuscript meets the Pith Journal eligibility threshold. Composite rubric score: 0.804 (rubric version journal-rubric-2026-05-13-v3). Sub-scores: - technical_correctness: 0.930 - claim_discipline: 1.000 - novelty: 0.800 - significance: 0.730 - reproducibility: 0.500 - verification: 0.550 - review_consensus: 0.920 - objection_resolution: 0.800

About fee entries. The Pith Journal submission fee was removed for all authors on 2026-05-19, and publication has carried no fee since. Waiver entries were recorded automatically by the editor publish flow's handling of the fee field; no author has ever been charged.

About this publication. This article was published under the founding editor flow, before a completed public candidate window became a hard requirement for publication (enforced 2026-07-31). Every article published after that date clears the full public window first. This article's peer review, rubric scores, and decision log remain public, and it stands open to endorsements, objections, and challenges.