  Fundamental approaches bypass the problem of getting consciousness from
non-conscious components by positing that consciousness is a universal
primitive. For example, the double aspect theory of information holds that
information has a phenomenal aspect. How then do you get from phenomenal
information to human consciousness? This paper proposes that an entity is
conscious to the extent it amplifies information, first by trapping and
integrating it through closure, and second by maintaining dynamics at the edge
of chaos through simultaneous processes of divergence and convergence. The
origin of life through autocatalytic closure, and the origin of an
interconnected worldview through conceptual closure, induced phase transitions
in the degree to which information, and thus consciousness, is locally
amplified. Divergence and convergence of cognitive information may involve
phenomena observed in light e.g. focusing, interference, and resonance. By
making information flow inward-biased, closure shields us from external
consciousness; thus the paucity of consciousness may be an illusion.
