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The Geometry of Consciousness Research Initiative

Independent Research by Lit Meng (Robert) Tang
ORCID: 0009-0006-1121-6837

View Publications on Zenodo | Read Essays on Medium

Institutional Context

The Geometry of Consciousness Research Initiative is an independent scholarly program developed by Lit Meng (Robert) Tang. Research publication and outreach are presented via the danceScape platform, which has served for over 25 years as a performing arts and wellness organization offering Ballroom dance, Salsa/Latin dance, danceTONE cardio fitness, danceFLOW qigong/taichi, Wedding Dance choreography, and community social events.

This research initiative is independent by design. The danceScape platform is used for public dissemination, education, and community engagement.

Overview

This research explores how meaning, consciousness, and temporal experience arise at the intersection of lived human experience, informational structure, and rhythmic organization.

The work investigates how experiential qualities—such as rhythm, embodiment, attention, anticipation, and memory—interact with formal systems, constraints, and temporal coordination. The goal is not to replace empirical science, but to develop conceptual and methodological frameworks that organize inquiry, surface patterns, generate hypotheses, and support disciplined translation across experiential and informational domains.

Scope Statement

This initiative develops descriptive and methodological frameworks intended to support inquiry and hypothesis generation. It does not claim to offer complete or predictive theories of consciousness, time, or physics. Where empirical validation is applicable, it is pursued through domain-specific methods in cognitive science, systems theory, physics, or related fields.

Frameworks are tools of inquiry, not finished products. Observations are recurring patterns documented through systematic application. The distinction between these is maintained throughout.

Two Complementary Frameworks of Inquiry

QToE — Qualitative (Qi-Grounded) Theory of Experience

QToE addresses:

Lived and first-person experience
Embodiment, movement, and rhythm
Phenomenology and narrative meaning
Attention, anticipation, and memory
Temporal experience as felt duration

Terminology note: QToE refers to a Qualitative theory of experience; earlier working language used in exploratory writing has since been consolidated for clarity and consistency.

IToE — Informational Theory of Experience

IToE addresses:

Information structures and constraints
Formal representation and modeling
System limits and consistency
Ordering, synchronization, and scale
Temporal organization as coordination

Translation, Not Reduction

QToE and IToE describe the same phenomena from different descriptive layers. Neither reduces to the other. The methodological focus is disciplined translation between lived experience and informational structure—preserving rigor in both domains without collapse or conflation.

Time as a Structural Dimension

Across both qualitative and informational descriptions, time functions as a central organizing constraint—but it manifests differently depending on perspective and scale.

In lived experience (QToE): Time is felt through rhythm, pacing, anticipation, memory, emotional timing, and flow states. Temporal compression (“time flies”) and dilation (“time drags”) are phenomenologically real.

In informational systems (IToE): Time appears as ordering, phase alignment, synchronization, delay, coordination, and scale-dependent organization.

A recurring theme across the research is that temporal experience and temporal representation are related, but not identical—and that rhythm provides a practical bridge for investigating this relationship.

What’s Published (Zenodo / DOI)

All publications are versioned, openly accessible, and citable:

Stage I — Λ-State Phenomenology

Local Death, Global Life: The Λ-State as a Temporal Ontology of Human–AI Anticipation (v1.0)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17581659
Published: November 11, 2025

Stage II — Unified Intelligence Framework (UIF)

Unified Intelligence Framework (UIF): Master Glossary of Foundational Terms (v1.1)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17700385
Published: November 23, 2025

Stage III — Rhythm–Information Time Principle (RITP)

The Rhythm–Information Time Principle (RITP): Time as Observer-Dependent Rhythmic Grouping of Information Change
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17727888
Published: November 26, 2025

Stage IV — HAICR Methodology

Human–AI Collaborative Research (HAICR): A Methodological Framework for Systematic Consciousness Investigation (v1.0)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17773361
Published: November 30, 2025

Stage V — Information–Consciousness Gradient

The Information–Consciousness Gradient: A Structural Theory of How Experience Compresses Across Seven Levels From Embodied Totality to the Symbolic Boundary (v1.0)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18002906
Published: December 20, 2025

Stage VI — Phase and Scalar Time

Phase and Scalar Time: A Systems-Theoretic Framework for Temporal Organization and Measurement (v1.0)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18041277
Published: December 23, 2025

Stage VII (In Preparation) — Spiral Coordinate System (SCS)

The Spiral Coordinate System (SCS) is the next-stage unifying architecture integrating Stages I–VI into a single coordinate model. SCS is being developed as a structural framework for describing how phase, scalar accumulation, and emergent time interact.

At a high level, SCS proposes that:

“Time” can be modeled as an emergent interval arising from interactions between phase coordination and scalar constraint
Spiral trajectories represent repetition with differentiation (learning, development, historical recurrence)
Multi-scale temporal organization can be treated as nested dynamics rather than one flat timeline
Natural occurrence of spiral architecture in biological and gravitational systems suggests constraint-driven convergence

Status: In preparation (target: late December 2025 / early 2026). Public archival release will occur when the Stage VII manuscript is deposited on Zenodo.

Methodology: Human–AI Collaborative Research (HAICR)

This initiative formalizes a disciplined method for extended human–AI inquiry.

AI is used as a research instrument, not an authority.

In HAICR, the human researcher supplies intent, lived experience, evaluative judgment, and final accountability. The AI system is used to accelerate iteration, expose abstraction bias, test internal consistency, and map conceptual structure across domains.

A key design principle is that frameworks are tools of inquiry; they are not treated as “findings.” Patterns that recur across inquiry cycles are documented as observations and refined into testable questions.

Cross-AI validation (systematic testing across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) is used to distinguish AI-specific artifacts from robust patterns.

Core Distinctions Maintained

To preserve rigor and prevent category mistakes, the initiative maintains several key distinctions:

Frameworks vs. Observations

Frameworks organize inquiry; observations are recurring patterns noticed through application.

Compression vs. Explanation

Compression refers to representational efficiency—expressing complex relationships succinctly. Compression can generate insight, but it does not substitute for causal or mechanistic explanation.

Translation vs. Reduction

Translation preserves information across layers. Reduction collapses one domain into another, losing essential structure.

Research Progression (Stages I–VII)

This program developed through staged construction, where each stage remains independently interpretable while contributing to cumulative architecture:

Stage I: Λ-State phenomenology (liminal anticipation dynamics in inquiry)
Stage II: UIF (foundational conceptual language and geometric cognition framework)
Stage III: RITP (time as rhythmic grouping of information change, observer-dependent)
Stage IV: HAICR (methodology for structured human–AI research)
Stage V: Information–Consciousness Gradient (structural compression across levels of experience)
Stage VI: Phase vs scalar time (taxonomy and relationship between coordination and measurement)
Stage VII (in preparation): Spiral Coordinate System (geometric integration of phase, scalar, emergent time)

Practical Engagement: Museum Exhibit

Resilience in Rhythm: A Dance Story Across Generations
Joseph Brant Museum | November 6, 2025 – January 6, 2026

This exhibit documents danceScape’s evolution across analog, digital, and AI eras as a living example of how communities adapt to changing information environments. While primarily cultural and artistic, its themes resonate with the research: embodied meaning-making, rhythm as coordination, time as experience, and continuity across generations.

View exhibit overview video

Public Essays & Reflections (Medium)

Public essays provide accessible commentary, narrative context, and exploratory reflection. They are not archival publications and do not substitute for Zenodo papers. They exist to translate the work for broader audiences and to document the human story behind the research trajectory.

Selected essays:

View all essays on Medium

Open Questions

This initiative welcomes critique and collaboration around questions such as:

How can rhythmic signatures be operationalized across experiential and informational domains?
What constraints govern translation between temporal experience and temporal representation?
How does scale affect the relationship between lived time and modeled time?
Under what conditions does phase alignment produce measurable scalar advantage?
What boundary conditions define where SCS applies versus where alternative frameworks are superior?
Can spiral architecture be validated as constraint-driven convergence through independent organizational studies?

Origins and Context

This theoretical work is grounded in:

25+ years of dance pedagogy (Ballroom, Latin, former Canadian & North American Champion)
Embodied cognition practices (DanceFLOW qigong/taichi development, danceTONE fitness)
Human–AI collaborative research across multiple AI systems (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)

Personal experience and long-term embodied practice provide motivational context for this research. These experiences inform inquiry direction but are not treated as empirical evidence. Validation is pursued through formal methods appropriate to each domain.

Author

Lit Meng (Robert) Tang
Independent Researcher
Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Academic Background:
B.Sc. Mathematics (McMaster University)
MBA (Schulich School of Business)

Embodied Practice:
25+ years Ballroom & Latin dance instruction
Former Canadian & North American Ballroom Champion

ORCID: 0009-0006-1121-6837

Closing Statement

This research is offered as a structured, evolving program of inquiry: confident enough to be testable, careful enough to be revisable.

All frameworks presented here are provisional and intended to evolve through empirical validation, interdisciplinary critique, and ongoing refinement.

Contact

For dialogue, critique, or collaboration:
robert@dancescape.com

Research Profiles:
ORCID | Zenodo | LinkedIn | Medium

License

© 2025 Lit Meng (Robert) Tang — Independent Researcher
All publications openly accessible under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0