SIMULATION OF A COHERENCE–INTEGRATION MODEL OF BASE AWARENESS (B): A TESTABLE FRAMEWORK FOR CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH

ABSTRACT We propose a falsifiable, quantitative model of Base Awareness (B) — the minimal, content-independent background of conscious presence — as the product of two measurable system-level parameters: coherence (C) and informational integration (Φ). The model B(t) = α · C(t) · Φ(t) + ε(t) was tested on synthetic data simulating anesthesia-like disruption of coherence and integration. Under realistic noise, artifacts, and missing values, the model robustly recovered expected dynamics (R² = 0.86, AUC = 0.92). Collapse thresholds were stable (C ≈ 0.19, Φ ≈ 0.14). Simpler alternatives (B ~ C, B ~ Φ, constant) were rejected (p < 0.0001 via F-test). This framework is not limited to biological systems: it applies equally to artificial and hybrid systems. Neural data (e.g., EEG/MEG) provide one domain for empirical tests, but the principle itself is general. The model is grounded in a broader theoretical framework of minimal meaningfulness as a selection principle for structures in reality, where B emerges as the product of coherence (C) and integration (Φ), representing efficient decoding and compression of information. The model is robust for baseline scenarios, with potential for nonlinear extensions in edge cases.