The Emotional Interface Theory of Consciousness: A Survival-Based Model of Self, Feeling, and Perception

Consciousness remains a central mystery in neuroscience and philosophy, with current models unable to fully explain its qualitative nature or evolutionary purpose. This paper proposes the Emotional Interface Theory of Consciousness, which posits that consciousness arises from a biologically evolved interface that encodes survival-relevant information as compressed emotional signals. Emotions are not secondary modulators but constitute the fundamental data stream shaping subjective experience. This framework integrates affective neuroscience, predictive processing, and studies on altered states of consciousness to provide a unified explanation of the self, perception, and feeling as survival-optimized simulations.