Pathway-Dominant Consciousness Theory (PDC Theory): A Unified Theoretical Framework for Neural Pathway Switching as the Mechanism of Phenomenological Identity, Memory Access, and Temporal Self-Displacement

Contemporary theories of consciousness share an unexamined foundational commitment: that subjective experience constitutes a unified, continuous stream anchored to a singular self-model. This paper argues that this commitment is not an empirical finding but a methodological artefact produced by measuring consciousness under conditions that hold neural pathway dominance artificially constant. When context shifts radically, conscious experience does not degrade gradually — it ruptures, revealing that phenomenological identity is constituted by whichever neural pathway configuration is currently dominant. Pathway-Dominant Consciousness Theory (PDC Theory) advances three core propositions: the Pathway Dominance Principle, holding that consciousness at any moment is the phenomenological output of the currently dominant pathway; the Phenomenological Fidelity Principle, holding that complete reinstatement of a prior pathway reproduces its full phenomenological state including temporal reference point; and the Repertoire Expansion Corollary, reconceptualising psychological development as accumulation of distinct switchable configurations. Central to the framework is a Three-Tier Model distinguishing ordinary recall, state-dependent enhancement, and full pathway reinstatement — the last constituting temporal self-displacement, categorically differentiated from mental time travel by the constitutive absence of meta-awareness. Drawing on network neuroscience, memory engram research, predictive processing, trauma, and philosophy of mind, PDC Theory provides a unified mechanistic account of six phenomena including PTSD flashbacks, dementia temporal displacement, and Dissociative Identity Disorder. Explicit falsifiability commitments and philosophical implications are developed.