The Standard Model of Consciousness¶

A comprehensive reference for the Four-Model Theory (FMT) and Recursive Intelligence Model (RIM)

The Standard Model of Consciousness is a unified theoretical framework offered as the leading candidate for a standard model of consciousness — addressing, within a single architecture, the three questions most theories leave open: what consciousness is, why physical processes give rise to subjective experience, and how consciousness relates to intelligence. Consciousness science remains pre-paradigm — no framework yet satisfies every criterion a complete theory must meet — so this is an invitation to the field to test, extend, or falsify, not a claim that the matter is settled. The framework comprises two interlocking theories — the Four-Model Theory (FMT), which specifies the architecture of consciousness, and the Recursive Intelligence Model (RIM), which specifies the dynamics of intelligence — connected by a causal bridge through cognitive learning.

FMT proposes that consciousness is constituted by ongoing self-simulation across four nested model kinds arranged along two axes: scope (world vs. self) and mode (implicit vs. explicit) — four kinds, not four modules. The explicit models are virtual, transient, and phenomenal — they are the experience. Qualia are constitutive properties of the computational level; on this account the explanatory gap is epistemic rather than ontological, a consequence of the level distinction. Running this simulation demands free compute — open-ended computation in a Class 4 regime, actually deployed in self-modeling; near-criticality (the edge of chaos) is the signature that regime leaves in neural tissue, not the requirement itself. Several claims derived from the theory's 2015 axioms have since received converging independent support, though that convergence concerns the computational requirement and is shared with other criticality-based frameworks; the novel predictions remain largely untested.

RIM redefines intelligence as a recursive, self-reinforcing system of Knowledge, Performance, and Motivation. It traces the field's exclusion of motivation to a typing error: the tradition typed every constituent of intelligence as a capacity, while motivation is the policy that allocates the loop's time — a schedule rather than a substance. The bridge between FMT and RIM runs through cognitive learning: consciousness enables the induction of general theories from particular observations, which powers the recursive loop that produces self-directed intellectual development.

Site Map¶

graph LR
    HOME["Home"]

    HOME --> F["I. Foundations"]
    HOME --> CA["II. Core Architecture"]
    HOME --> HP["III. Hard Problem"]
    HOME --> PF["IV. Physical Foundations"]
    HOME --> KM["V. Key Mechanisms"]
    HOME --> PC["VI. Philosophical Commitments"]
    HOME --> PH["VII. Phenomena"]
    HOME --> PR["VIII. Predictions"]
    HOME --> CO["IX. Comparative Analysis"]
    HOME --> RI["X. Intelligence (RIM)"]
    HOME --> BR["XI. Bridge"]
    HOME --> AI["XII. AI & AC"]
    HOME --> ED["XIII. Education"]
    HOME --> FO["XIV. Formal Foundations"]
    HOME --> OQ["XV. Open Questions"]
    HOME --> LI["XVI. Limitations"]
    HOME --> RE["XVII. Reference"]
    HOME --> BA["XVIII. Basics"]

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The wiki is organized into 18 sections spanning 125 articles. Dark red sections cover FMT (consciousness); blue sections cover RIM (intelligence) and their intersection; green covers background knowledge.

Sections¶

Foundations¶

The theoretical starting point: why consciousness science is stuck, what a complete theory must explain, and where this framework comes from.

The Standard Model of Consciousness (Overview) -- Article 1
Eight Requirements for a Theory of Consciousness -- Article 2
The Pre-Paradigm State of Consciousness Science -- Article 3
Historical Context -- Article 4

Core Architecture (FMT)¶

The heart of the theory: four model kinds, two axes, and the real/virtual split that makes experience possible.

The Four-Model Theory -- Article 5
Core Definition of Consciousness -- Article 6
The Two Axes: Scope and Mode -- Article 7
Implicit World Model (IWM) -- Article 9
Implicit Self Model (ISM) -- Article 10
Explicit World Model (EWM) -- Article 11
Explicit Self Model (ESM) -- Article 12
The Real/Virtual Split -- Article 13
Self-Referential Closure -- Article 14

The Hard Problem: FMT's Answer¶

How the theory resolves the deepest puzzle in philosophy of mind -- not by explaining qualia away, but by showing the question rests on a level confusion.

Virtual Qualia -- Article 15
How FMT Answers the Hard Problem -- Article 16
The Category Error (Level Confusion) -- Article 17
The Meta-Problem: FMT's Account -- Article 20

Physical Foundations¶

The physics beneath the theory: criticality, cellular automata, the five-system hierarchy, and two thresholds.

Criticality: Signature, Not Requirement -- Article 21
The Cortical Automaton -- Article 23
The Five-System Hierarchy -- Article 24
Two Thresholds for Consciousness -- Article 25

Key Mechanisms¶

The dynamic processes that connect architecture to phenomenology: permeability, graduated consciousness, forking, holography.

The Implicit-Explicit Boundary -- Article 27
Variable Permeability -- Article 28
Graduated Levels of Consciousness -- Article 29
The Redirectable ESM -- Article 30
Virtual Model Forking -- Article 31
Holographic Storage -- Article 32
The Dual Evaluation Architecture -- Article 33

Philosophical Commitments¶

The theory's explicit philosophical positions: process physicalism, substrate independence, weak emergence.

Process Physicalism -- Article 34
Consciousness as Process, Not Agent -- Article 35
Substrate Independence -- Article 36
Weak Emergence -- Article 37
Not Illusionism, Not Deflationary -- Article 38

Explanatory Range (Phenomena)¶

What the theory explains: altered states, clinical syndromes, sleep, animal consciousness, and meditation.

Psychedelic Phenomenology -- Article 39
Ego Dissolution -- Article 40
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) -- Article 41
Anesthesia and Loss of Consciousness -- Article 42
Split-Brain Phenomena -- Article 43
Sleep, Dreams, and Criticality -- Article 44
Lucid Dreaming -- Article 45
Anosognosia -- Article 46
Animal Consciousness -- Article 47
Meditation -- Article 48

Predictions and Empirical Evidence¶

Converging evidence for several of the 2015 predictions, and five novel predictions derived afresh from the theory — four untested, the fifth with structural support but an untested dissociation.

Confirmed Predictions (Post-2015 Convergence) -- Article 49
Prediction 1: Psychedelics Alleviate Anosognosia -- Article 50
Prediction 2: Ego Dissolution Content Is Controllable -- Article 51
Prediction 3: DID Alter Switches in ESM Networks -- Article 52
Prediction 4: Lucid Dream Onset Is a Criticality Crossing -- Article 53
Prediction 5: Qualia Structure Is Shareable, Absolute Encoding Is Not -- Article 101

Comparative Analysis¶

How FMT compares against every major consciousness theory, requirement by requirement.

Comparative Scoreboard -- Article 54
FMT vs. Integrated Information Theory (IIT) -- Article 55
FMT vs. Global Neuronal Workspace (GNW) -- Article 56
FMT vs. Predictive Processing (PP) -- Article 58
FMT vs. Attention Schema Theory (AST) -- Article 59

The Recursive Intelligence Model (RIM)¶

Intelligence redefined: a recursive system where Knowledge, Performance, and Motivation amplify each other.

The Recursive Intelligence Model (Overview) -- Article 63
Three Components, Three Kinds: Knowledge, Performance, Motivation -- Article 64
The Recursive Loop -- Article 65
Operational Knowledge: The Hidden Multiplier -- Article 66
The Matthew Effect and Compounding Dynamics -- Article 68

The Consciousness-Intelligence Bridge¶

The causal chain linking FMT and RIM through cognitive learning.

Consciousness-Intelligence Bridge -- Article 73
Cognitive Learning vs. Reinforcement Learning -- Article 74
The Dual Evaluation Architecture and Intelligence -- Article 75

AI and Artificial Consciousness¶

What the theory says about current AI, why LLMs are not conscious, and what a conscious machine would require.

The AI Diagnostic: What Machines Are Missing -- Article 76
Why LLMs Are Not Conscious (Under FMT) -- Article 77
Engineering Specification for Artificial Consciousness -- Article 78
The Path to AGI Runs Through Motivation -- Article 79

Educational and Societal Implications¶

What the recursive model means for schools, grading, and the question of whether intelligence is learnable.

Open Questions and Research Frontiers¶

What the theory does not yet know -- and where the research programme goes next.

Open Questions -- Article 89
Are the Implicit Models Also Virtual? -- Article 90
Minimum Configuration for Consciousness -- Article 91

Limitations and Open Problems¶

The theory's acknowledged limitations, from the other-minds problem to Godel-type constraints.

Limitations -- Article 94
The Other-Minds Problem -- Article 95
Inside-Modeling and Godel -- Article 96

Reference¶

Glossary of Terms -- Article 97
Key Figures and Diagrams -- Article 98
Bibliography -- Article 99
Reading Order Guide -- Article 100

Basics (Background Knowledge)¶

Standalone explainer articles for readers without a science background. Each covers one concept used across the wiki.

Start Here¶

Different readers will want different entry points. Pick the path that matches your background:

Philosopher of mind? Start with Virtual Qualia and How FMT Answers the Hard Problem. The theory's central move is a level-distinction argument that relocates the explanatory gap from ontology to epistemology. From there, follow the Comparative Scoreboard to see how FMT measures against IIT, GNW, HOT, and the rest.

Neuroscientist? Start with Criticality: Signature, Not Requirement and Confirmed Predictions. The theory predicts specific empirical signatures -- several with converging independent support since 2015, most of the novel predictions still untested. The Cortical Automaton and Five-System Hierarchy ground the architecture in neural reality.

AI researcher? Start with Engineering Specification for Artificial Consciousness and Why LLMs Are Not Conscious. The theory provides concrete architectural criteria for consciousness and explains what current AI systems lack: post-trained language models carry a reportable self-representation, but not closure over it, persistence, or the Class 4 regime. Then read The Path to AGI Runs Through Motivation for why scaling alone will not produce self-developing agents.

Educator or psychologist? Start with The Recursive Intelligence Model and Intelligence Is Learnable. The recursive model explains why motivation belongs inside intelligence as the policy that allocates the loop's time, and why conventional grading systems actively destroy the recursive loop they should be strengthening.

New to science? Start with the Basics section. These 25 standalone articles explain the neuroscience, philosophy, and physics concepts used throughout the wiki — no prior knowledge assumed.

Want the full picture? Read the Overview, then follow the articles in numerical order. The wiki is designed so that each article builds on the ones before it.

Source Papers¶

This wiki is based on the preprints below. None has been peer reviewed:

FMT: Gruber, M. (2026). The Four-Model Theory of Consciousness: A Simulation-Based Framework Unifying the Hard Problem, Binding, and Altered States. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.18669891
FMT in-silico companion: Gruber, M. (2026). What Closure Costs and What It Buys: In-Silico Cost and Capability Results for the Four-Model Architecture. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.21610993
RIM: Gruber, M. (2026). A Schedule, Not a Substance: Motivation as Allocation Policy and the Mis-Typed Components of Intelligence. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.20125095 · also on Zenodo

Author¶

Matthias Gruber -- Independent researcher. ORCID: 0009-0005-9697-1665. The theory was originally published in German as Die Emergenz des Bewusstseins (Gruber, 2015, ISBN 9781326652074) and refined through a structured adversarial challenge process in 2026.

Source code: github.com/JeltzProstetnic/aIware

Based on: Gruber, M. (2026). The Four-Model Theory of Consciousness. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.18669891