Structure in human consciousness: A fractal approach to the topology of the self perceiving an outer world in an inner space

Abstract

In human consciousness a world of separated objects is perceived by an inner observer who is experienced as an undivided feeling of one-self. A topological correlation of the self to the world, however, entails a paradoxical situation by either merging all separated objects into one or splitting the self into as many subselves as there are objects perceived. This study introduces a model suggesting that the self is generated in a neural network by algorithmic compression of spatial and temporal information into a fractal structure. A correlation of an inner observer to parts of a fractal structure inevitably entails a correlation to the whole, thereby preserving the undividedness of the self. Molecular mechanisms for the generation of a fractal structure in a neural network and the possibility of experimental investigation will be discussed.