A Tri-Level Model of Subjective Experience: Multiscale Coherence, Level Interference, and Conditions of stable integration.
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This preprint introduces a conceptual tri-level model of subjective experience that integrates three analytically distinct but dynamically coupled domains: (1) micro-level biological and neural processes, (2) meso-level subjective experience, and (3) macro-level social, cultural, and symbolic structures. The model introduces the concepts of multiscale coherence and level interference to describe how functional alignment or misalignment across these levels influences the stability, clarity, and integrative capacity of subjective experience. Subjective experience is conceptualized as a state-dependent manifestation of underlying structural system conditions rather than as the isolated product of any single level. The framework does not aim to provide precise temporal predictions but instead formulates structural conditions under which coherent or fragmented experience is observable at a given time. It is positioned as a theoretical and, in principle, falsifiable model that is compatible with existing approaches such as Predictive Processing, Global Workspace Theory, and Embodied Cognition, while explicitly addressing their limitations with respect to cross-level integration. This work is published as a preprint to enable open discussion, critique, and further theoretical development.
Author: Brüning, Sebastian
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7115016894
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