Is Reflexive Cognition Foundational? A Structural Framework Anchored in Aperture Theory

This paper extends the theoretical foundations introduced in The Aperture of Consciousness by presenting the Recursive Cognition Framework (RCF) as a candidate for foundational architecture in cognitive science. Rather than replacing existing models (e.g. GNWT, IIT, Predictive Coding), RCF offers a structural topology within which these models can coexist under recursive epistemic tension. Core concepts such as Overcells, drift, collapse, and aperture modulation are formalized as mechanisms of cognitive transformation under frame-level contradiction. The article argues for the integrative, reflexive, and instrumentally grounded nature of RCF, proposing it as a meta-framework for organizing both empirical research and first-person cognition. While the original book introduced the aperture metaphor as a developmental and philosophical trajectory, this article sharpens it into a formal structure suitable for theoretical and cross-disciplinary discourse.