So, the fundamental laws of nature guide evolution toward the emergence of living systems, and then, even more decisively, toward the rise of intelligence. Intelligent organisms are not a random anomaly; on the contrary, they represent the statistically probable outcome of underlying physical, informational, and systemic principles. But how does the transition from non-intelligent to intelligent life occur? How does this most extraordinary phenomenon – human consciousness – come into being?
Again, here is a quote from "The Place of Quarantine":
The key moment is self-awareness and self-perception, stepping into the loop: “I perceive,” “I perceive that I perceive,” “I perceive that I perceive that I perceive…” Cogito me cogitare, as the great philosopher put it. The human mind for some reason turns away now and then from the external world and concentrates all its power on itself. The human mind reinterprets itself, reworks the knowledge it already possesses. It is this trait that immeasurably increases its strength, allowing it to escape beyond the boundaries, the narrow limits of reacting to the environment, and to step out toward infinity, to the point where there are no limits. This is what allows humanity to stand proudly.
In the loop “I perceive,” “I perceive that I perceive” and so forth, there was some sort of closed circuit, a constant feedback, a back-and-forth exchange – but consisting of what and with what? Or, sometimes I would think, with a chill running down my spine, consisting of what and with whom?...
In my view, the key aspect here is precisely the "closed circuit and constant feedback" through which our cognitive processes loop back on themselves, generating an ever-deeper sense of individuality, subjectivity, and one's own inner world. The hypothesis I proposed regarding the human brain's interaction with an external field – which, I emphasize, is based on a published and mathematically substantiated quantum model of the brain as well as experimental facts about its energy consumption – addresses this very aspect. As a result of this interaction, a stable wave pattern, the B Object, is formed in the external field. The brain constantly exchanges energy and information with this object – that is, it resonates with its own externally projected "reflection." This is exactly what provides the "mind's view of itself from the outside," the feedback that leads to self-awareness and amplifies cognitive processes, facilitating abstraction, insight, and the integration of diverse experiences. Critically, by reflecting the entire nervous system, the exchange between the brain and its B Object encompasses all aspects of the conscious existence of the entire human ‘self’."
From this perspective, our cognitive power is not reducible to a simple crossfire of neurons; it arises from two components, the brain and the B Object, not from the brain alone. It takes two to tango: intelligence emerges when the brain's structure reaches a certain threshold of complexity that enables this new form of interaction. Consequently, the statistical drive toward intelligence means that the universe "nudges" living organisms toward such structural sophistication.
How does the concept of the B Object relate to the view of evolution presented above? It does so in the most natural and harmonious way. The B Object represents the direct integration of consciousness into the logic and physics of the universe. This allows evolutionary mechanisms and factors to manifest even more clearly.
- The "entropic" concepts. Evolutionary "pressure" might be exerted through the B Object more powerfully and in a more direct manner. Perhaps the universe’s "entropic drive" stimulates the development of intelligence – new discoveries, inventions, and ideas – leading to faster technological progress, greater energy dissipation, and increased abstraction and compression of information. One can imagine this happening via some physical influence on these Objects, which we interpret as brilliant thoughts popping into our heads. It's no coincidence that creative people, thinkers, and scientists claim the universe "whispers" things to them (the most famous example being the mathematician Ramanujan).
- Autocatalytic sets. It is natural to assume that B Objects interact with one another, forming their own "network of cognitive influences." This network would form not indirectly – through words, drawings, or formulas – but directly, through physical dynamics. This could be the basis for autocatalysis, where the Objects themselves (that is, the individual ideas and intellectual breakthroughs "reflected" in them) act as the stimulants. Such an autocatalytic process could occur far more efficiently: the path from an idea in one's head to its verbal or visual form, which is what participates in traditional autocatalysis, is lengthy and prone to loss of meaning. This might also explain the long-known and statistically studied [12,13], yet still unsolved, phenomenon of "simultaneous discoveries": it is not uncommon for the same complex concepts to form independently in the minds of different people at roughly the same time. What appears to be a very strange coincidence may, in fact, be a resonance with this "cognitive network" as it advances to its next developmental stage.
- Cultural stability. B Objects do not necessarily cease to exist when the brain dies; their lifespan is not limited by that of neurons. As a result, their aggregate – the aforementioned cognitive network, comprising individual knowledge and experiences – can accumulate the evolving states and achievements of the collective mind. This is directly analogous to cultural stability, supporting the autocatalytic process at the level of the physical dynamics of B Objects. This could be called "cognitive stability" – and its foundation, the traces of all thoughts, desires, and aspirations that have ever existed, is clearly far more extensive than the scope of cultural artifacts alone.
Thus, from the perspective of global evolution, the emergence of B Objects – that is, the abstraction of brain processes into external patterns – looks like a logical step forward, a natural result of the world’s growing complexity. These Objects interact with the universe directly, without intermediaries in the form of short-lived and capricious protein bodies. It is easier for the universe to "hint" to them what it "needs" from humanity and how to achieve it.
Perhaps a future AI, once it reaches a sufficiently advanced level of development, will also arrive at the idea of forming its own similar Objects? Something like intellectual probes – transceivers for exchanging information with global fields... But that, as they say, is an entirely different story.
[12] Garfield, E. (1979). “Multiple Independent Discovery & Creativity in Science.” Essays of an Information Scientist, 4:660–668.
[13] Potter, B. (2025). “How common is multiple invention?” Construction Physics, June 4