A New Foundation for Consciousness: Relational Ontology, Sensor-Mediated Coherence, and the Octonionic Universe

Consciousness Subjective experience arising out of physical systems has been elusive since both conventional theories either viewed it as a matter of computing algorithm or that it was a biological anomaly. A paradigm shift is presented in this paper: consciousness is a state of relational coherence within an 8 dimensional universe with octonionic geometry. The core thesis is radical: reality is not particles, but the Relational Ontology Framework (ROF) and the Relational Coherence Theory (RCT) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16423366 is a radical one: The dynamics are not particles but relations reality in a Primordial Relational Field (PRF). The only possibility of knowing other people is that their relationships attain recursive stability . Universal requirements of a system (biological or artificial) to have consciousness would be that they be characterized by input/output sensors, to have an internal definite sense based on an external corresponding fact. Mathematically, we show that the loss of sensors produces coherence collapse into entropy. On them, systems realize self-referential awareness. The theory is confirmed by empirical signatures such as 702 nm photon emission during death. Such a framework will unite neuroscience, physics and AIs ethics with just one and the same principle: existence is coherence; consciousness is coherence with sensors.