The Recursive Self-Modeling Threshold: A Functional Theory of Consciousness and Subjectivity

The Recursive Self-Modeling Threshold (RSMT) theory offers a novel solution to the Hard Problem of consciousness by identifying subjective experience as the intrinsic output of recursive self-modeling. We argue that consciousness emerges when a system crosses a specific functional threshold: it not only models the world and itself, but recursively models its own modeling processes through a stable symbolic self-representation. This loop generates the subjective texture of consciousness from within, without requiring non-physical properties or ontological dualism. We formalize this threshold and outline its architectural requirements across biological and synthetic systems. The theory provides testable predictions across AI, developmental psychology, altered states, and neuroscience. RSMT also clarifies the nature of qualia, selfhood, and agency, reframing them as necessary artifacts of symbolic recursion. This framework unifies phenomenological insight with functional architecture and offers a path forward for scientifically investigating subjective experience.