Yes that's the main problem with all of these concepts like internal family systems, loops, memory - that as long as the models remain static it's not like a brain that's constantly in an isomorphic metamorphosis with reality.

There's really no true boundaries or edges to the biological systems, instead constant interfacing through a myriad of senses and processes, decay, chaos, emergence especially social in nature.

And while these newer symphonic models are closer to group dynamics, my intuition tells me you need more of a universe around "it" to have actual consciousness.

That would be a wild realisation. Do you need to render the entire universe to get one consciousness, or at least some part of it because of weird fields, emergence, and the fact that human taxonomies are actually frighteningly arbitrary?

Ie. to have consciousness with qualia you actually need 47 glorp fields, 1000 other consciousnesses and radiation in this specific frequency.