A Higher Dimension of Consciousness: Constructing an empirically falsifiable panpsychist model of consciousness

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel, empirically testable panpsychist model of consciousness based on the idea of consciousness existing in a higher physical dimension, aiming to bridge the gap between metaphysics and scientific verification.

Contribution

It introduces a new panpsychist model grounded in higher physical dimensions, providing a framework for empirical testing of consciousness theories.

Findings

Model yields testable predictions about consciousness.

Higher dimension hypothesis offers explanatory power.

Framework demonstrates how metaphysical models can be scientifically falsifiable.

Abstract

Panpsychism is a solution to the mind-body problem that presumes that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality instead of a product or consequence of physical processes (i.e., brain activity). Panpsychism is an elegant solution to the mind-body problem: it effectively rids itself of the explanatory gap materialist theories of consciousness suffer from. However, many theorists and experimentalists doubt panpsychism can ever be successful as a scientific theory, as it cannot be empirically verified or falsified. In this paper, I present a panpsychist model based on the controversial idea that consciousness may be a so called higher physical dimension. Although this notion seems outrageous, I show that the idea has surprising explanatory power, even though the model (as most models) is most likely wrong. Most importantly, though, it results in a panpsychist model that yields predictions that can be empirically verified or falsified. As such, the model's main purpose is to serve as an example how a metaphysical model of consciousness can be specified in such a way that they can be tested in a scientifically rigorous way.