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A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness

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Neuroscience Global Workspace Theory

By Bernard Baars

Summary

Consciousness functions as a "global workspace" — unconscious specialized processors compete for access; the winners broadcast their content globally, making it conscious. Theatre metaphor: bright spot on stage = consciousness; audience and backstage = unconscious processes.

Why It Matters

The first testable cognitive architecture explicitly designed to explain consciousness. Inspired Dehaene's GNW and remains empirically productive.

Notes

This entry is a seed import from the Phase 1 Knowledge Inventory. It has not yet been manually reviewed.