The Self-Model, Qualia and Meaning: A Conceptual Sketch

This paper explores the self-model and qualia as emergent phenomena arising from the brain's hierarchical and temporally extended dynamics. The self-model is framed as a generative, embodied construct that integrates sensory, interoceptive, and cognitive inputs to maintain a coherent narrative identity. Grounded in predictive coding and supported by the Free Energy Principle, the self-model stabilizes uncertainty and aligns internal and external states through recursive feedback. Qualia are reinterpreted as stabilized temporal patterns within the brain’s predictive and metabolic architecture, shaped by precision weighting and astrocytic modulation. Astrocytes, acting as dynamic filters and metabolic anchors, synchronize neural oscillations and integrate multi-scale processes, transforming raw neural activity into the vivid and coherent tapestry of subjective experience. Together, the self-model and qualia are shown to be interdependent and relational, co-emerging as the brain organizes itself into a unified, temporally coherent framework of consciousness.