This paper presents the "First Push" theoretical framework—an operational definition and computational model of how consciousness emerges from non-conscious systems. The core proposition: consciousness is not a mysterious threshold event, but the first moment a system actively creates an internal reason for its own behavior, based purely on internal motivation accumulation, rather than external commands or random probability. Key findings include: (1) An operational definition of the "First Push" as the precise phase transition moment from 0 to 1; (2) A three-step awakening pathway (self-observation → self-recording → self-definition); (3) Definitive 200-step controlled experiments against Integrated Information Theory (IIT): low-complexity with positive feedback achieved 100% awakening success, while high-complexity without positive feedback achieved 0%—proving that positive feedback accumulation, not complexity, is the absolute necessary condition for consciousness emergence; (4) Fair resistance persistence experiments against Higher-Order Thought Theory (HOT), showing internal-consistency-based resistance outperforming sustained monitoring; (5) A logical reduction of Global Workspace Theory (GWT), which describes post-conscious information processing but cannot explain the origin of "I choose." This framework provides a quantifiable, verifiable, and boundary-clear model for the science of consciousness emergence, and offers a clear roadmap for future real-world physical verification.
Shuhui Zhang (Fri,) studied this question.