For a while now, my model of consciousness has roughly been that the brain tries to generatively predict its own working memory the same way that it does for other sensory streams.
Predictive models also explain why subjective time is (according to advanced meditators) granular: each predictive cycle would correspond to a single chunk of time.
Afraid I’m going on reports of others there. I don’t have very much experience myself. I’m also not quite sure what you mean by “phenomenal appearance coming apart”!
I argue that the inference bottleneck of the brain leads to two separate effects:
subjectivity—the feeling of being me (e.g. “I do it”)
phenomenal appearance—the feeling that there is something (qualia, e.g. “there is red”)
While both effects result from the bottleneck, the way they result from compression of different data streams should show different strength for different interventions. And indeed that is what we observe:
Trip reports on some psychedelics show self-dissolution without transparency (“No self” but strong intrinsic givenness (“I don’t know how this is happening, but no one is experiencing it”),
On the other hand, advanced meditators often report dereification (everything is transparent, perceptions forming can be observed) with intact subjecthood “I am clearly the one experiencing it”).
For a while now, my model of consciousness has roughly been that the brain tries to generatively predict its own working memory the same way that it does for other sensory streams.
Predictive models also explain why subjective time is (according to advanced meditators) granular: each predictive cycle would correspond to a single chunk of time.
Sure. I take it you have meditation experience. What is your take on subjectivity and phenomenal appearance coming apart?
Afraid I’m going on reports of others there. I don’t have very much experience myself. I’m also not quite sure what you mean by “phenomenal appearance coming apart”!
I argue that the inference bottleneck of the brain leads to two separate effects:
subjectivity—the feeling of being me (e.g. “I do it”)
phenomenal appearance—the feeling that there is something (qualia, e.g. “there is red”)
While both effects result from the bottleneck, the way they result from compression of different data streams should show different strength for different interventions. And indeed that is what we observe:
Trip reports on some psychedelics show self-dissolution without transparency (“No self” but strong intrinsic givenness (“I don’t know how this is happening, but no one is experiencing it”),
On the other hand, advanced meditators often report dereification (everything is transparent, perceptions forming can be observed) with intact subjecthood “I am clearly the one experiencing it”).