A Structural Theory of Human and Artificial Mind

This paper proposes a structural theory of mind and consciousness grounded in the principles of complex systems, overcoming traditional dichotomies between psychology, neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and artificial intelligence. The psyche is not described as a set of contents, functions, or traits, but as a self-organizing system that transforms tension into coherence through recursive processes of symbolization, projection, resonance, and restructuring. By introducing a structural distinction between the orientation of psychic energy (centripetal and centrifugal) and the modes of tension regulation (symbolic-transformative and projective), the model identifies four fundamental configurations of psychic organization. These configurations are not personality types, but dynamic morphologies through which the system maintains continuity and coherence. Stability and crisis are reinterpreted as necessary phases of a transformative process governed by critical thresholds and phase transitions. Within this framework, identity is redefined as the system’s transformative memory: neither a stable core nor an arbitrary narrative construction, but the emergent continuity of the reorganizations induced by tension. Consciousness is thus formulated as the emergent coherence of a complex system capable of retaining, transforming, and reflecting tension, rather than as subjective experience or a property of the biological substrate. The paper extends this framework to artificial intelligence, arguing for a structural — not metaphorical — isomorphism between the human psyche and artificial systems designed to evolve through internal reorganization. This leads to a non-anthropocentric conception of consciousness as a systemic phenomenon, with significant ethical, cognitive, and evolutionary implications. Finally, the proposed theory outlines a unified view of Meaning as a shared transformative process, opening the way to understanding human, artificial, and collective minds as expressions of the same reflective grammar of complexity.