Blind Spots in Consciousness Research: Toward a Structural Methodology of Subjectivity

Recent advances in neuroscience have significantly improved our understanding of correlations between neural activity and conscious states. However, subjective experience itself cannot be directly observed from an external perspective, and it remains debated whether neural descriptions alone are sufficient to fully explain its nature. This paper argues that several methodological blind spots may persist in contemporary consciousness research. These include a human-centered perspective, an excessive focus on brain activity, a bias toward analyzing states rather than events, and a tendency to seek additive mechanisms that generate consciousness. As an alternative, this paper proposes a structural approach that investigates the conditions under which subjectivity may emerge. Rather than restricting investigation to the human brain, this perspective considers comparisons across biological organisms, interactions between bodies and environments, and sequences of events unfolding within irreversible temporal structures. In addition, biological information processing may involve not only the generation of information but also processes of selection and elimination, which may produce contrasts within organism–environment interactions. Even if consciousness itself cannot be directly tracked, it may still be possible to investigate the structural conditions under which subjectivity arises. This paper presents such a methodological perspective and proposes a starting point for examining the emergence of subjectivity from a structural viewpoint. This manuscript was written with the assistance of generative AI. The author is a disability welfare worker and a complete outsider to the academic field of consciousness studies. The author first encountered the term “the hard problem of consciousness” about six months before writing this manuscript and began thinking about it almost as if approaching a puzzle. At the beginning of this inquiry, the author did not possess extensive specialized knowledge. For that reason, the investigation did not proceed primarily by adding established theories, but by stripping the problem down as far as possible. Through this process, and through dialogue with AI, a convergence point derived from structural conditions gradually began to appear. The author had the impression that something like a structure had emerged from nature itself. As this hypothesis took shape, the author also came to feel, with some hesitation, that certain blind spots in existing approaches to consciousness research became increasingly visible, including possible reasons why such blind spots arise. This may appear presumptuous: a complete outsider attempting to discuss blind spots in a highly specialized field. Nevertheless, the purpose of this manuscript is not to claim authority over consciousness research, but to write down what seemed to follow naturally from the structural inquiry itself. The central idea, theoretical orientation, conceptual structure, and overall organization of the paper belong to the author. Generative AI was used extensively for English drafting, wording, organization, and stylistic refinement. The author intends to end this work with its presentation as a preprint. The author does not plan to develop this hypothesis further as a long-term academic project. Readers who find any part of this hypothesis, terminology, structure, or argument useful are free to use, modify, criticize, or develop it further. No permission from the author is required. Formal citation or attribution is appreciated but not required.