The Qualk Hypothesis of Consciousness (Part I)

Abstract

Despite being a remarkably old and fundamental human conundrum and having sensible clinical situations in need of it, there is not yet a theory that truly explains consciousness itself - neither on the empirical level nor on the conceptual level. Consciousness theory has not achieved the deserved scientific order nor freedom from contradictions. Here I propose a new organized structure for the problem as well as an outline for a solution with a biological foundation. I propose answers to the questions of what consciousness is and what consciousness is for. I go from phenomenology to biochemistry and back, while reviewing several dense components related to the topic along the way. I argue that, at the fundamental level, consciousness is a rich dynamic symphony of individual distinct detections (qualks), without the need for any physical unification.