Theorized speculative starter Neuroscience — Global

DMN REDUCTION INCREASES CONSCIOUSNESS: Paradox falsifies generator model

Catalogued: February 15, 2026
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Full Description

The Default Mode Network (DMN) maintains the sense of self/ego. Psilocybin, meditation, and entrainment all REDUCE DMN activity. Published result (Carhart-Harris et al., PNAS 2012): magnitude of DMN reduction directly predicts intensity of subjective experience. More reduction = MORE consciousness, not less. This is paradoxical under the generator model (brain creates consciousness — less activity should = less consciousness). It is perfectly explained by the filter/receiver model (Huxley 1954): the brain FILTERS a larger consciousness field; DMN is the filter; reducing it lets more through. This is the most parsimonious explanation of published data and is consistent with IIT, Orch-OR, and the pyramid-as-consciousness-amplifier hypothesis.

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