Realization Through Collapse (RTC v2): A Dynamic Informational Integration Theory of Consciousness

The nature of consciousness remains one of the most persistent unresolved problems in contemporary neuroscience and philosophy of mind. Existing frameworks, including Global Workspace Theory (GWT) and Integrated Information Theory (IIT), have provided valuable insights into large-scale integration and informational structure but continue to face challenges in explaining the precise mechanism through which potential information becomes phenomenally experienced. This paper introduces Realization Through Collapse (RTC v2), a novel theoretical model proposing that consciousness arises from the interaction between a continuous baseline field of awareness and discrete, temporally localized integration events termed “collapses.” Within this framework, conscious experience is not purely continuous nor strictly discrete, but emerges from rapid cycles of informational realization, governed by the alignment between incoming data and an evolving baseline of common patterns shaped by learning and neuroplasticity. RTC v2 formalizes this process through a set of variables—informational throughput, integration probability, match quality, and collapse latency—offering a semi-quantitative model of conscious intensity. The theory further provides a constraint-based response to the hard problem of consciousness, a concrete experimental framework for empirical testing, and an evaluation of its implications for artificial consciousness. By reframing “collapse” as a neurobiological integration event rather than a quantum mechanical process, RTC v2 avoids metaphysical assumptions while remaining compatible with predictive processing and largescale neural synchrony. The paper concludes by outlining testable predictions and positioning RTC v2 as a unifying framework bridging computational, neuroscientific, and phenomenological accounts of consciousness.