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Event Horizons, Spacetime Geometry, and the Limits of Integrated Consciousness

Jonathon Sendall

TL;DR

The paper investigates whether unity of consciousness, formalized as a single strongly connected component (SCC) in an effective causal graph $G_{\\tau}(S)$ over a finite integration window $\\tau$, can survive when a substrate crosses a black hole event horizon. It introduces the Unity Postulate and proves, within semiclassical general relativity, that no SCC can span interior and exterior regions across a horizon, forcing fragmentation into at least two SCCs that may each sustain a unified field. This horizon-induced bifurcation reveals that the number of conscious subjects is not determined by substrate alone but by the geometric embedding of the system in spacetime, with dimensional adequacy acting as a constitutive geometric constraint. Consequently, ordinary spacetime is an enabling condition for unity, and the horizon exposes geometry as a constitutive factor in the supervenience base of consciousness, with broad implications for IIT, GWT, and Predictive Processing in extreme relativistic settings.

Abstract

What happens to a unified conscious field when its physical implementation straddles a black hole event horizon? This paper addresses that question for integration-based theories, including Integrated Information Theory, Global Workspace Theory, and Predictive Processing. These views share a structural commitment: unity requires a single strongly connected component (SCC) in an effective causal graph over a finite integration window $τ$. Using the standard black hole causal structure, I show that no SCC can span an event horizon. Any theory that ties unity to strong connectivity must therefore accept that a single conscious field cannot remain numerically identical and unified across such a configuration. From the perspective of the theories themselves, the outcome is bifurcation: each causally connected subsystem continues to satisfy the very structural criteria the theory declared necessary for a unified field. On any such view, the number and boundaries of unified conscious fields are therefore fixed not by the substrate alone but by the conjunction of its internal architecture with the relativistic causal structure of the spacetime it occupies, a dependency that ordinary spacetime conceals by supplying it so abundantly, but which an event horizon abruptly withdraws.

Event Horizons, Spacetime Geometry, and the Limits of Integrated Consciousness

TL;DR

The paper investigates whether unity of consciousness, formalized as a single strongly connected component (SCC) in an effective causal graph over a finite integration window , can survive when a substrate crosses a black hole event horizon. It introduces the Unity Postulate and proves, within semiclassical general relativity, that no SCC can span interior and exterior regions across a horizon, forcing fragmentation into at least two SCCs that may each sustain a unified field. This horizon-induced bifurcation reveals that the number of conscious subjects is not determined by substrate alone but by the geometric embedding of the system in spacetime, with dimensional adequacy acting as a constitutive geometric constraint. Consequently, ordinary spacetime is an enabling condition for unity, and the horizon exposes geometry as a constitutive factor in the supervenience base of consciousness, with broad implications for IIT, GWT, and Predictive Processing in extreme relativistic settings.

Abstract

What happens to a unified conscious field when its physical implementation straddles a black hole event horizon? This paper addresses that question for integration-based theories, including Integrated Information Theory, Global Workspace Theory, and Predictive Processing. These views share a structural commitment: unity requires a single strongly connected component (SCC) in an effective causal graph over a finite integration window . Using the standard black hole causal structure, I show that no SCC can span an event horizon. Any theory that ties unity to strong connectivity must therefore accept that a single conscious field cannot remain numerically identical and unified across such a configuration. From the perspective of the theories themselves, the outcome is bifurcation: each causally connected subsystem continues to satisfy the very structural criteria the theory declared necessary for a unified field. On any such view, the number and boundaries of unified conscious fields are therefore fixed not by the substrate alone but by the conjunction of its internal architecture with the relativistic causal structure of the spacetime it occupies, a dependency that ordinary spacetime conceals by supplying it so abundantly, but which an event horizon abruptly withdraws.
Paper Structure (23 sections, 1 figure)

This paper contains 23 sections, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Unity as strong causal closure over an integration window
  3. Effective causal graphs in curved spacetime
  4. The Unity Postulate
  5. Strong connectivity and event horizons
  6. Black hole geometry and causal structure
  7. No SCC can span the horizon
  8. Proposition 1 (No cross-horizon SCC).
  9. Numerical illustration
  10. Horizon crossing and the fragmentation of unity
  11. A horizon crossing scenario
  12. Fragmentation and interior remainders
  13. A trilemma for integration-based theories
  14. Boundaries of consciousness and absolute cuts
  15. Unity, geometry, and a structural condition on spacetime
  16. ...and 8 more sections

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: Causal fragmentation of a recurrent three-node system (N1--N2--N3) in radial free-fall crossing a Schwarzschild event horizon. N1 is innermost (left), N3 outermost (right). Outward signals: A propagates directly from N1 to N3; B(1) and B(2) propagate from N1 to N3 via N2. Inward signals: D propagates directly from N3 to N1; C(1) and C(2) propagate from N3 to N1 via N2. As nodes cross the horizon, outward signals are blocked at the horizon while inward signals continue, breaking strong connectivity.