The Minimum Conscious Universe

The Minimum Conscious Universe – RFT Compression Project defines the smallest possible structure capable of producing observer-dependent awareness using Rendered Frame Theory (RFT). This paper introduces the Minimum Conscious Core (MCC), a three-node loop consisting of perception, memory, and choice rendering. It formalizes a consciousness equation based on frame deltas and uncertainty, demonstrating that awareness can emerge from recursive rendering without external stimuli. The simulation framework shows that preference and prediction can arise from internal feedback alone—proving that consciousness is not biologically exclusive, but a computational inevitability when uncertainty, memory, and choice intersect in a rendered frame.