Rudrauf's Projective Consciousness Model
The Projective Consciousness Model (PCM) is a mathematical model of embodied consciousness that “relates phenomenology to function, showing the computational advantages of consciousness.”
David Rudrauf
Professor of Cognitive Science
David Rudrauf is Professor of Cognitive Science (CPJ) at University of Paris-Saclay. He is a cognitive neuroscientist and philosopher specializing in consciousness and the brain’s predictive processes. He combines computational modeling with clinical research to explore how the brain constructs subjective experience.
Key Takeaways
Core Claim
Consciousness arises from the brain’s ability to model space and experience through projective geometry.
How It Works
The brain selects spatial viewpoints to integrate sensory input, memory, and goals via active inference.
Distinguishing Idea
Projective transformations structure conscious perspective and guide the switch between perception, imagination, and action.
Embodied Anchor
The “lived body” acts as a stable reference point for conscious control and survival.
Implications
Consciousness evolved to simulate spatial information, helping organisms anticipate and adapt to their environment.
Rudrauf's Projective Consciousness Model
Cognitive neuroscientist David Rudrauf's Projective Consciousness Model (PCM) is a mathematical model of embodied consciousness that “relates phenomenology to function, showing the computational advantages of consciousness.” It is based on “the hypothesis that the spatial field of consciousness (FoC) is structured by a projective geometry and under the control of a process of active inference.”
The FoC in the PCM is said to combine “multisensory evidence with prior beliefs in memory” and to frame them “by selecting points of view and perspectives according to preferences.” This “choice of projective frames governs how expectations are transformed by consciousness. Violations of expectation are encoded as free energy. Free energy minimization drives perspective taking, and controls the switch between perception, imagination and action” (Rudrauf et al., 2017).
Foundational Assumptions
Founding assumptions of the PCM include: consciousness as an evolved mechanism that optimizes information integration and functions as an algorithm for the maximization of resilience; relating the free-energy principle to perceptual inference, active inference, and (embodied) conscious experience; an integrative predictive system projecting a global 3-dimensional spatial geometry to multimodal sensory information and memory traces as they access the conscious workspace; and emphasis on the embodied nature of consciousness, without reducing consciousness to embodiment.
A pivotal idea is that embodied systems have “an evolutionary advantage of developing an integrative cognition of space in order to represent, simulate, appraise and control spatially distributed information and the consequences of actions” (Rudrauf et al., 2017).
The Lived Body and Phenomenology
Much is made of “the lived body,” because “in contrast to most contents of consciousness, the lived body is normally always present in the conscious field … a proxy for the integrity of the actual body … an anchor point for our efforts at preserving autonomy and well-being.” The lived body, therefore, is “a kind of inferential representation of the real body in physical space … a sort of virtual ‘user interface’ for the representation and control of the actual body.”
Thus, the PCM claims to account for fundamental psychological phenomena: the spatial phenomenology of subjective experience; the distinctions and integral relationships between perception, imagination, and action; and the role of affective processes in intentionality. The PCM suggests that brain states becoming conscious “reflect the action of projective transformations” (Rudrauf et al., 2017).
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