Consciousness is not constructed bottom-up from particles and forces. It is the residual symmetry after information undergoes successive breakings — from unified light through structured data, integrated information, to conscious experience. We formalize this top-down cascade using spontaneous symmetry breaking (Higgs mechanism), information theory (Shannon, Landauer, Wheeler), and the infinite wave function formalism (Nexorvivens). We propose that the information contained in light is both the cause and the result of the breaking. A proof-of-concept demonstrates the informational phase transition in a 32-node self-referential network. Five testable predictions are presented with explicit falsification criteria. Companion paper: "The Infinite Wave Function" (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19082101).
Blanc et al. (2026) studied this question.