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Pith Preprint 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

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