Consciousness, Metabolic Selves, and Ritual Loops - Brain Bee Ideas - Rethinking Consciousness

Consciousness, Metabolic Selves, and Ritual Loops - Brain Bee Ideas - Rethinking Consciousness

What if consciousness is not a fixed “thing” inside the brain, but a movement that perceives itself to exist, generated by the metabolic activity of the body-mind system?

This idea proposes that consciousness emerges only when there is mind—and by mind, we adopt the perspective of Antonio Damasio, in which the mind is formed by the interaction between interoception and proprioception.

* Proprioception is how the brain senses the body’s position and motion in space.

* Interoception is how we feel our internal bodily states—heartbeat, hunger, temperature, pain.

  Scientific basis: The insular cortex and anterior cingulate cortex are central to processing interoceptive signals (Craig, 2009; Khalsa & Lapidus, 2016).

These sensations are not just raw data—they actively build our moment-to-moment sense of self. Consciousness, in this framework, is a referencing of oneself in relation to body signals, attention, and meaning.

The “Tensional Self” and Metabolic Identity

We don’t have just one self. We activate different “tensional selves” for different actions:

* A “self for studying”

* A “self for defending oneself in a conflict”

* A “self for creating art or music”

Each of these selves is a metabolic configuration - a temporary alignment of emotional, cognitive, and sensorimotor processes adapted to a specific purpose. We call this a metabolic self, or a metabolism of existence.

 These active selves can be detected using EEG, NIRS, and other neurotechnologies that measure oxygenation and attention levels during specific cognitive-emotional states.

Meta-Consciousness and the Absence of Self

In some states—deep meditation, dreaming (REM phase), or mindful awareness—we may experience consciousness without a dominant self. These are moments of meta-consciousness, where one simply observes sensations and thoughts without identifying with them.

  The Radical Plasticity Thesis (Cleeremans, 2011) suggests consciousness emerges when the brain becomes able to represent its own states and behaviors.

Activated Consciousness and the 72-Hour Trap

When a metabolic self is activated by a stimulus (such as fear, admiration, ritual, or ideology) and then reinforced within 72 hours, that state can become neural and psychological reality.

This phenomenon is what we call Activated Consciousness: a looping state in which the mind **continuously references a particular self**—even when it no longer serves adaptation, only repetition.

Scientific Evidence

A study by the University of Würzburg (2023) showed that removing smartphones for 72 hours changed activity in reward and self-control regions of the brain. This suggests that brief cycles of reinforcement are enough to establish new cognitive-emotional patterns.

When Belief Becomes Entrapment

One of the most impactful distortions of early consciousness occurs when myths—such as the belief in life after death—are introduced during childhood.

These beliefs, although emotionally comforting, can activate a permanent self-state associated with fear, guilt, or hope. If this self is ritually reinforced—through chants, prayers, meditations, or special diets - it forms an activated consciousness loop.

 When the ritual reinforcement occurs in intervals shorter than 72 hours, the child’s consciousness begins to reference only that belief - detaching from natural proprioceptive and interoceptive development.

Worse still, this activated consciousness becomes monetizable: emotional dependency can be converted into donations, service, obedience, or social conformity. The self is no longer adaptive—it becomes a resource being harvested.

Brain Bee Proposal: Exploring Activated Consciousness

Title: Neurophysiological Markers of Activated Consciousness and Ritual Reinforcement in Adolescents

Hypothesis: Repeated ritual reinforcement of belief-based self-states within 72-hour cycles will show distinct activation patterns in EEG (P3, Gamma) and NIRS (increased OxyHb in the insula and prefrontal cortex), compared to neutral or non-reinforced states.

Experiment:

Group A: participants receive ritualistic stimuli (e.g. mantras or moral narratives) every 24h for 3 days.

Group B: same stimuli but only once, with no repetition.

Group C: control group, no stimuli.

Measurements:

* EEG (emotional activation and attention engagement)

* NIRS (blood flow and oxygenation in emotional regulation areas)

* Pre/Post questionnaires about identity, agency, and emotional attachment

Final Insight for Young Scientists

Consciousness is not just a spark in the brain. It is a flowing dance between what we feel, what we do, and what we are told to believe.

Every time we repeat a ritual, click a like, or recite a belief, we may be anchoring a metabolic self that is not truly ours - but one conditioned by society, religion, or the attention economy.

Understanding this helps future neuroscientists question the systems that shape identity, and design ethical, evidence-based approaches to consciousness, childhood development, and belief systems.

You’re not just a brain. You’re a self in motion—make sure it’s truly yours.