There is no externally verifiable proof of this experience.

There is, because the person cannot do many of the things they used to do. A person has to go through months of therapy to re-learn many former skills after part of their brain has been removed. So the external behavior change is just as obvious as the internal change. The functionality changes. The complexity of the consciousness is decreased.

Just like if there is a society of a hundred million people, and then suddenly 99.9% of them die. The remaining people would not be able to exactly re-create the previous society regardless of how hard they try, simply because the operational functionality does not exist anymore, even though there are still parts of that society still existing and conscious.

This conclusion is actually something of a jump. I get what you are saying and don’t disagree with you entirely. But again. If you’re basing your argument in science, you are making an unproven jump.

Fair enough, I'm only drawing an analogy. But I am using the assumption "as above, so below" as a model.

Let me relate a story real quick. I used to know be close acquaintances with a brain surgeon. No really I did. And he liked to make fun of people who thought that different waters were different. Brilliant man. Could perform actual brain surgery. Yet refused to acknowledge that perhaps chlorinated water and alkaline water were somehow composed differently.

It's definitely true very smart people can be very stupid about other things, and sometimes can lead to cockiness which causes ignorance to be reinforced.

You aren’t at the top if you can’t visit the bottom when you want.

You can experience what it's like to be an atom or single cell while you're conscious and meditating? I am doubtful. I've been meditating 15 years... Having a peaceful mind is not the same as experiencing life as a bacteria. I don't think any human can truly say they know the conscious experience of a single lone cell.

Only the complexity of expression can be destroyed.

Yes. Agreed 100%.

I am glad we agree on that point, because that's the real core of the explanation, in my mind.