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@unpublished{cogprints79, month = {February}, title = {Structure in human consciousness: A fractal approach to the topology of the self perceiving an outer world in an inner space}, author = {Erhard Bieberich}, year = {1998}, keywords = {consciousness, self, neural network, fractals, brain, artificial intelligence, mind, mind-body problem, neurochemical correlate of consciousness}, url = {http://cogprints.org/79/}, abstract = {In human consciousness a world of separated objects is perceived by an inner observer who is experienced as an undivided feeling of one-self. A topological correlation of the self to the world, however, entails a paradoxical situation by either merging all separated objects into one or splitting the self into as many subselves as there are objects perceived. This study introduces a model suggesting that the self is generated in a neural network by algorithmic compression of spatial and temporal information into a fractal structure. A correlation of an inner observer to parts of a fractal structure inevitably entails a correlation to the whole, thereby preserving the undividedness of the self. Molecular mechanisms for the generation of a fractal structure in a neural network and the possibility of experimental investigation will be discussed.} }