DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x25103026 ISSN: 0140-525X
Consciousness facilitates model-based planning, but is that really why consciousness evolved?
Nicholas SheaAbstract
The authors make a timely argument that the temporal profile of consciousness is an under-exploited constraint on theories of consciousness. However, the exact timing matters for the evolutionary hypothesis. A rival hypothesis is that in aquatic environments, it already had the function of representing distal objects, with a time-delay to consciousness in the 100–200ms range.