This paper challenges Saul Kripke’s theory of rigid designation using a real-world counterexample—a seasonal ice formation named 'Rigid Designator.' While composed of H2O, the structure does not function or persist like water, thus undermining Kripke’s claim that 'Water is H2O' is a metaphysically necessary truth. This empirical Encryptment, combined with critiques from philosophers such as Mark Johnston, highlights the recursive, context-sensitive nature of identity. The paper also critiques Kripke’s misapplication of 'baptism' in his theory of naming, suggesting that 'christening' more (...) accurately captures the recursive and ontological depth of naming. The phenomenon of Encryptment reveals that identity and naming operate through symbolic recursion and informational fields—not causal chains or modal rigidity. My Chemical Engineering degree prohibits me from adopting Kripke's rather 'ignorant' and casual viewpoint. (shrink)

David Chalmers argued against the claim that for all p, or even for all entertainable p, it is knowable a priori that p iff actually p. Instead of criticizing Chalmers’s argument, I suggest that it can be generalized, in a sense, and in interesting ways, concerning other principles about contingent a priori truths. In particular, I will argue that the puzzle presented by Chalmers runs parallel to others that do not turn on ‘actually’. Furthermore, stronger arguments can be presented that (...) do not turn on apriority either, though they do entail the conclusion of Chalmers’s argument. All such puzzles involve interactions between rigidifying sentence-forming devices with factive operators. (shrink)

Jeffrey King has recently argued: (i) that the semantic value of a sentence at a context is (or determines) a function from possible worlds to truth values, and (ii) that this undermines Jason Stanley's argument against the rigidity thesis, the claim that no rigid term has the same content as a non-rigid term. I show that King's main argument for (i) fails, and that Stanley's argument is consistent with the claim that the semantic value of a sentence at a (...) context is (or determines) a function from worlds to truth values. (shrink)

• names and indexicals are directly referential/rigid designators • wide-scope behavior w.r.t. operators • not synonymous with the description giving their ‘descriptive meaning’, as shown by Kripke-Kaplan examples (1) and (2).

Traditional psychology and psychiatry often operate with static models of identity and discrete diagnostic categories. This article proposes a unifying paradigm based on the physics of complex systems, in which the Ego is conceptualized as a Dissipative Structure — an open system that maintains its organization at the cost of a continuous flow of energy and information, resisting the natural entropic tendency of the psyche. Introducing Lempel-Ziv Complexity (LZc) as a quantitative biomarker of "entropic rigidity," the article differentiates low-entropy (...) states (e.g., melancholic depression) from high-entropy states (e.g., psychosis). The model advances a thermodynamic coordinate system (Entropy × Free Energy) to map disorders and proposes that mental health is metastability: the dynamic capacity to transition between the structure of the Self and the non-Self. (shrink)

In this paper, we prove the semantic incompleteness of some expansions of the Hilbert-style system for the minimal normal term-modal logic with equality and non-rigid terms that were proposed in Liberman et al. (2020) “Dynamic Term-modal Logics for First-order Epistemic Planning.” Term-modal logic is a family of first-order modal logics having term-modal operators indexed with terms in the first-order language. While some first-order formula is valid over the corresponding class of frames in the involved Kripke semantics, it is not provable (...) in those expansions. We show this fact by introducing a non-standard Kripke semantics which makes the meanings of constants and function symbols relative to the meanings of relation symbols combined with them. We also address an incorrect frame correspondence result given in Liberman et al. (2020). (shrink)

Polarization is pervasive in the current sociopolitical discourse. Polarization tends to increase cognitive inflexibility where people become less capable of updating their beliefs upon new information or switching between different ways of thinking. Cognitive inflexibility can in turn increase polarization. We propose that this positive feedback loop between polarization and cognitive inflexibility is a form of threat response that has benefited humans throughout their evolutionary history. This feedback loop, which can be driven by conflict mindset, group conformity, and simplification of (...) information, facilitates the formation of strong bonds within a group that are able to eliminate threats and increase individual fitness. Although cognitive inflexibility is conventionally seen as maladaptive, here we argue that cognitive inflexibility may be an adaptation under polarization. That is, in a highly polarized society most people only interact with members of their own social group, without having to confront perspectives from another group or interacting with out-group members. In this context, cognitive inflexibility creates rigid cognitive specialization, a set of cognitive traits that allow people to operate efficiently within their social circles but not outside of it. Although rigid cognitive specialization benefits individuals in the short term, it may lead to more polarization over the long run, and thus produce more conflict between groups. We call on future research to examine the link between cognitive inflexibility and rigid cognitive specialization. (shrink)

This chapter shows how Luce Irigaray reaches back to alternative sources of philosophy as she looks for the conditions for the emergence of the female subject. It also shows the grip of rigidity on Western philosophy since its inception and points out its consequences with regard to subjectivity and power. Philosophy has operated with a rigid binary system of logic ever since its inception in ancient Greece. Everyone agrees that Parmenides had an enormous influence on the development of logic. (...) However, there is disagreement on how this influence should be evaluated. It is the awareness of the use of power and efforts to mastery which accompany the construction of dichotomies that lie at the heart of feminist critiques of binary logic. The Pythagorean table of opposites, which was developed in the sixth century BCE, is an early articulation of a binary system. (shrink)

We treat emergence via reference to four ideas: (1) the different levels of emergence are characterised by distinct conservation laws, (2) the emergence process starts from some instability, (3) the driving force of emergence is given by selection processes allowing canalisation of specific (emerging) paths, and (4) new forms of stability are determined by new kinds of operations. At a quantum-mechanical level entropy is conserved in an isolated system or at global level and the only allowed operations are local shifts (...) in order and disorder – that implies weakening and strengthening correlations. The stable state is here represented by a highly symmetric state. Emergence of the classical physical world arises when energy is conserved and allowable operations include building and breaking of physical-chemical connections. The stable state is here the energy minimum. Emergence of the biotic world implies that the conserved quantity is energy efficiency. Energy is no longer locally conserved. The allowed operations are those that are consistent with the survival (persistence) of the organism. The emergence of the mind is grounded in selecting those operations that are rational (in the sense of maintaining biological self-organisation). Here, the rational value of behaviour is the quantity of interest. Mounting the ladder of (both cosmic and biological) evolution means to have more and more selection of the possible outcomes (and therefore of the relative operations) but in a growing space of possibilities: if selection would reduce more and more the space of possibilities, the final result would be a rigid order; at the other extreme, if we had only expansion of the possibilities without selection, the final result would be disorder. So growing complexity can be understood as a path in the evolutionary landscape of the systems in which a balance of order and disorder is maintained although each level emerges as a result of the selection. (shrink)

Consider two standard quantified modal languages A and P whose vocabularies comprise the identity predicate and the existence predicate, each endowed with a standard S5 Kripke semantics where the models have a distinguished actual world, which differ only in that the quantifiers of A are actualist while those of P are possibilist. Is it possible to enrich these languages in the same manner, in a non-trivial way, so that the two resulting languages are equally expressive-i.e., so that for each sentence (...) of one language there is a sentence of the other language such that given any model, the former sentence is true at the actual world of the model iff the latter is? Forbes (1989) shows that this can be done by adding to both languages a pair of sentential operators called Vlach-operators, and imposing a syntactic restriction on their occurrences in formulas. As Forbes himself recognizes, this restriction is somewhat artificial. The first result I establish in this paper is that one gets sameness of expressivity by introducing infinitely many distinct pairs of indexed Vlach-operators. I then study the effect of adding to our enriched modal languages a rigid actuality operator. Finally, I discuss another means of enriching both languages which makes them expressively equivalent, one that exploits devices introduced in Peacocke (1978). Forbes himself mentions that option but does not prove that the resulting languages are equally expressive. I do, and I also compare the Peacockian and the Vlachian methods. In due course, I introduce an alternative notion of expressivity and I compare the Peacockian and the Vlachian languages in terms of that other notion. (shrink)

I explored the relationship between the “Black Axe” Confraternity and cybercrime, with a particular emphasis on the structural dynamics of the Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes. I investigated whether a conventional hierarchical system governs the membership and remuneration for BEC roles as perpetrators by interviewing an accused “leader” of the “Black Axe” affiliated cybercriminal incarcerated in a prominent Western nation. I supplemented the analysis of interview data with insights from tapped phone records monitored by a law enforcement entity. I merged (...) Actor-network theory and Social Network theory as analytical frameworks and thematically analyzed data to produce six overarching themes: (1) The fluidity of Structure and Adaptive Roles in BEC, (2) Challenges in Visualizing Criminal Networks, (3) Globalization and Transnational Dimensions, (4) Social and Cultural Influences, (5) Internal Cybersecurity Threats and Money Laundering, and (6) Remuneration and Influences of Cryptocurrency, casting a brighter light on the topic. Unlike traditional organized crime, BEC scammers have adopted a nonhierarchical model that is flexible and fluid. I found no evidence of a rigid hierarchy dictating positions and remuneration for BEC roles. Instead, I observed that cybercriminals involved in BEC activities functioned horizontally, promoting fluidity, maneuverability, collaboration, and specialization across various facets of their illicit pursuits. I also highlighted the cross-border links BEC offenders have with other criminal actors facilitated by Black Axe organizational machinery. My research adds value to the existing body of knowledge, utilizing a unique dataset comprising direct testimonies of a high-profile BEC offender affiliated with the ‘hard–to–access,’ Black Axe gang. (shrink)

The distinction between clinical practice and surgical research may seem trivial, but this distinction can become a complex issue when innovative surgeries are substituted for standard care without patient knowledge. Neither the novelty nor the risk of a new surgical procedure adequately defines surgical research. Some institutions tacitly allow the use of new surgical procedures in series of patients without informing individuals that they are participating in a scientific study, as long as no written protocol or hypothesis exists. Institutions can (...) justify this practice by viewing human research in narrow terms as an activity outlined in a formal protocol. Application of limited definitions, however, erodes patients' rights and risks losing public confidence in how biomedical research is conducted. I propose an operational definition of human research also be recognised. Enforcing more rigid and less ambiguous guidelines of human research may curtail enrolment into some studies, but it will also protect patients from being used as subjects without their knowledge. (shrink)

David Kaplan was one of the most vivid supporters of the view that there are temporal contents which tense operators operate on. The conclusion that the truth-value of sentence content may be sensitive to time shifts does not by itself qualify as temporalism. If there are tense operators in English, then Kaplan’s argument succeeds in establishing that temporal contents satisfy the condition that they are contents that some intensional operators operate on. Since we have already argued that temporal contents satisfy (...) the other conditions for being a proposition, we could take Kaplan’s argument to show that temporal contents are propositions. In response to Kaplan’s argument, several eternalists have defended the view that sentences have two kinds of content, temporal and eternal, but that only eternal content has proposition-status. The two kinds of content are also known as ‘compositional content’ and ‘assertoric content’. Rather than simply referring back to the general objections to eternalism provided in the first three chapters, I shall here offer independent arguments against each of the double-content strategies. (shrink)

Background: Maximum safe resection of infiltrative brain tumors in eloquent area is the primary objective in surgical neuro-oncology. This goal can be achieved with direct electrical stimulation to perform a functional mapping of the brain in patients awake intraoperatively. When awake surgery is not possible, we propose a pipeline procedure that combines advanced techniques aiming at performing a dissection that respects the anatomo-functional connectivity of the peritumoral region. This procedure can benefit from intraoperative monitoring with computerized tomography scan and brain (...) shift correction. Associated with this intraoperative monitoring, the additional value of preoperative investigation combining brain mapping by navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation with various neuroimaging modalities has not yet been reported.Case Report: A 42-year-old left-handed man had increased intracranial pressure, left hand muscle deficit, and dysarthria, related to an infiltrative tumor of the right frontal lobe with large mass effect and circumscribed contrast enhancement in motor and premotor cortical areas. Spectroscopy profile and intratumoral calcifications on CT-scan suggested an WHO grade III glioma, later confirmed by histology. The aforementioned surgical procedure was considered, since standard awake surgery was not appropriate for this patient. In preoperative time, nTMS mapping of motor function was performed, combined with magnetic resonance imaging -based tractography reconstruction of 6 neural tracts and resting-state functional MRI connectivity of sensorimotor and language networks. In intraoperative time, DES mapping was performed with motor evoked response recording and tumor resection was optimized using non-rigid image transformation of the preoperative data to iCT data. Image guidance was updated with correction for brain shift and tissue deformation using biomechanical modeling taking into account brain elastic properties. This correction was done at crucial surgical steps, i.e., when tumor bulged through the craniotomy after dura mater opening and when approaching the presumed eloquent brain regions. This procedure allowed a total resection of the tumor region with contrast enhancement as well as a complete regression of IICP and dysarthria. Hand paresis remained stable with no additional deficit. Postoperative nTMS mapping confirmed the good functional outcome.Conclusion: This case report and technical note highlights the value of preoperative functional evaluation by nTMS updated intraoperatively with correction of brain deformation by iCT. This multimodal approach may become the optimized technique of reference for patients with brain tumors in eloquent areas that are unsuitable for awake brain surgery. (shrink)

Despite the growing importance of ‘social value’ as a central feature of research ethics, the term remains both conceptually vague and to a certain extent operationally rigid. And yet, perhaps because the rhetorical appeal of social value appears immediate and self-evident, the concept has not been put to rigorous investigation in terms of its definition, strength, function, and scope. In this article, we discuss how the anthropological concept of liminality can illuminate social value and differentiate and reconfigure its variegated approaches. (...) Employing liminality as a heuristic encourages a reassessment of how we understand the mobilization of ‘social value’ in bioethics. We argue that social value as seen through the lens of liminality can provide greater clarity of its function and scope for health research. Building on calls to understand social value as a dynamic, rather than a static, concept, we emphasize the need to appraise social value iteratively throughout the entire research as something that transforms over multiple times and across multiple spaces occupied by a range of actors. (shrink)

Starting from simple topological arguments due to Dirac on the classical rotational properties of extended rigid bodies, we abstract the concept of a finite-size spinor (FSS). The FSS is a concept distinct from both point spinors (e.g., electrons) and composite spinors (e.g., nuclei), and suggests a new model for baryons. The FSS offers a natural explanation of “threeness” for the quarks, excludes the existence of free quarks, denies the operational definition of quark spin statistics, and, moreover, leads to the dual (...) model of hadronic interactions. (shrink)

This paper contributes to the debate regarding the semantic type of singular referential names. According to one view, known as referentialism, names rigidly designate individuals (Kripke 1972, Abbott 2002, Leckie 2013, Jeshion 2015, Schoubye 2017). According to another view, known as predicativism, names designate properties of individuals (Burge 1973, Geurts 1997, Bach 2002, Elbourne 2005, Matushansky 2008, Fara 2015). Most predicativist accounts claim that bare names in English occur with a phonologically null determiner, a proposal that is based on languages (...) like Greek where names require a determiner in argument position. Novel data from both English and Greek show that names can be nonrigid designators under modal operators ("Aristotle may teach Socrates") and bound variables under quantifiers ("in every set of twins, Helen is a musician"), challenging referentialism. As for rigidity, one possible source of this phenomenon is the proprial article, a name-specific determiner found in Catalan and other languages that may be null in English and homophonous with the definite article in Greek (Ghomeshi and Massam 2009, Muñoz 2019, Izumi and Erickson 2021). While much further research is needed, the data suggest that the proper analysis of names is grounded in predicativism rather than referentialism. (shrink)

Some hold that proper names and indexicals are “Kaplan rigid”: they designate their designata even in worlds where the designata don’t exist. An argument they give for this is based on the analogy between time and modality. It is shown how this argument gains forcefulness at the expense of carefulness. Then the argument is criticized as forming a part of an inconsistent philosophical framework, the one with which David Kaplan and others operate. An alternative account of a certain class of (...) negative existentials is developed, one which eliminates both the inconsistency and the need for Kaplan rigidity. After all, mustn’t whatever is referred to exist? (shrink)

Modal operators, like ‘it is necessary that’ or ‘John knows that’, express an attitude about the proposition to which they are applied. Modal logic studies the reasoning in modal contexts, extending classical logic in which only connectives and quantifiers are taken into account. There are many systems of modal logic, depending on the axioms one wants to accept for the modal operators. The semantics of the modal operators is in terms of possible worlds, where each possible world is supposed to (...) satisfy classical logic. A proposition is necessarily true if it is true in every world accessible or imaginable from the given world. Also tableaux rules are available for the different systems of modal logic. Constructing a tableau-deduction in modal propositional logic of a formula from given premisses, if it exists, is straightforward; and if it does not exist, one easily constructs a counterexample from a failed attempt to construct one. Epistemic logic is about the modal operator ‘knowing that’ and an interesting puzzle in this field is the one of the muddy children. The possible world semantics is useful to understand a number of phenomena in the philosophy of language: rigid designators and the ‘de dicto - de re’ distinction. Also strict implication and counterfactuals may be understood in terms of possible world semantics. In modal predicate logic we study the behavior of modal operators in combination with the quantifiers.We shall see that in order to make sense, modal contexts should be referentially transparent and at the same time extensionally opaque. (shrink)

In an earlier article [Found. Phys. 30, 1191 (2000)], a quasiclassical phase space approximation for quantum projection operators was presented, whose accuracy increases in the limit of large basis size (projection subspace dimensionality). In a second paper [J. Chem. Phys. 111, 4869 (1999)], this approximation was used to generate a nearly optimal direct-product basis for representing an arbitrary (Cartesian) quantum Hamiltonian, within a given energy range of interest. From a few reduced-dimensional integrals, the method determines the optimal 1D marginal Hamiltonians, (...) whose eigenstates comprise the direct-product basis. In the present paper, this phase space optimized direct-product basis method is generalized to incorporate non-Cartesian coordinate spaces, composed of radii and angles, that arise in molecular applications. Analytical results are presented for certain standard systems, including rigid rotors, and three-body vibrators. (shrink)

I present a discrete-relational construction within the Relational Zero State framework, in which microjump weights define the operational geometry for a postulated effective weighted-gauge sector. My goal is not to claim a derivation of fundamental particles, a continuum limit, or anyonic exchange statistics. Instead, I show that this effective sector supports a reproducible particle-like regime: localized gauge-covariant topological defects remain stable, respond coherently to Gauss-consistent boosts, keep low core deformation, and admit operational mass and response tensors. I call the static (...) object a Weighted Relational Gauge Vortex and the mobile nearly rigid regime a Relational Topological Quasiparticle regime. The manuscript documents the construction, the gauge-invariant charge, the Gauss projection, negative mobility controls, finite-size ensembles up to size 128, rectangular-lattice tests, a minimal phase map, non-extensive operational-mass scaling, and a static two-defect sector. The central claim is deliberately limited: given this postulated weighted-gauge sector on an RZS microjump substrate, the model exhibits reproducible, operational, discrete-relational quasiparticles. (shrink)

It is often assumed that pluralities are rigid, in the sense of having all and only their actual members necessarily. This assumption is operative in standard approaches to modal plural logic. I argue that a sceptical approach towards the assumption is warranted.

What if matter is not the first layer of reality, but a late form of relation that became stable enough to remain? -/- Before Matter introduces the Relational Zero State, or RZS, as a philosophical framework for thinking about reality before ready-made objects, classical space, ordinary time, and constituted matter. The article begins from a simple inversion: instead of asking what things existed at the beginning, it asks how anything could become stable, distinguishable, and resistant enough to be called a (...) thing. -/- RZS does not describe the universe as a biological organism, nor does it replace physics with metaphor. Its focus is more basic: the passage from a pre-structural condition to a universe capable of difference, relation, microjump, recurrence, weight, structural memory, boundary, geometry, matter, and complexity. In this view, the Zero State is not absolute nothingness, but a condition before stabilized form, where relational differentiation remains possible. -/- The article also introduces the Romero Law of Relational Stability: a system becomes more stable not by becoming rigid, but by increasing its capacity for update while reducing the dominance of noise, latency, and unresolved tension. From this principle, the text connects RZS with operational geometry, thermodynamics, cosmology, matter, mind, and psychopathology. -/- Written as an accessible entry point into the broader RZS program, Before Matter offers readers a conceptual map for approaching its more technical developments without losing sight of the central question: how can relations learn to remain? (shrink)

We show that basic hybridization (adding nominals and @ operators) makes it possible to give straightforward Henkin-style completeness proofs even when the modal logic being hybridized is higher-order. The key ideas are to add nominals as expressions of type t, and to extend to arbitrary types the way we interpret $@_i$ in propositional and first-order hybrid logic. This means: interpret $@_i\alpha _a$, where $\alpha _a$ is an expression of any type $a$, as an expression of type $a$ that rigidly returns (...) the value that $\alpha_a$ receives at the i-world. The axiomatization and completeness proofs are generalizations of those found in propositional and first-order hybrid logic, and (as is usual inhybrid logic) we automatically obtain a wide range of completeness results for stronger logics and languages. Our approach is deliberately low-tech. We don’t, for example, make use of Montague’s intensional type s, or Fitting-style intensional models; we build, as simply as we can, hybrid logicover Henkin’s logic. (shrink)

Feminist photography in Turkey operates at the intersection of artistic expression and political resistance, navigating a landscape shaped by patriarchal norms, authoritarian governance and a rigid educational infrastructure. This article explores how such visual practices challenge the dominant photographic education system in Turkey – one rooted in technocratic modernism that privileges technical mastery over critical, embodied and inclusive approaches to image-making. The work of emerging photographer Cansu Yıldıran, whose practice is shaped by feminist and queer sensibilities, enables an analysis of (...) alternative photographic aesthetics and methods which suggest modes of resistance. In voicing personal and collective forms of marginalization in this context, Yıldıran’s photographs implicitly critique its conventions of photography education. This, I argue, offers a counter-model that emphasizes performativity, vulnerability and lived experience and opens a critical space that invites more inclusive pedagogical possibilities. (shrink)

What is at the basis of moral action? An altruism acquired by the application of rule and principle? Or, as Noddings asserts, caring and the memory of being cared for? With numerous examples to supplement her rich theoretical discussion, Noddings builds a compelling philosophical argument for an ethics based on natural caring, as in the care of a mother for her child. The ethical behavior that grows out of natural caring, and has as its core care-filled receptivity to those involved (...) in any moral situation, leaves behind the rigidity of rule and principle to focus on what is particular and unique in human relations. Noddings's discussion is wide-ranging, as she considers whether organizations, which operate at a remove from the caring relationship, can truly be called ethical. She discusses the extent to which we may truly care for plants, animals, or ideas. Finally, she proposes a realignment of education to encourage and reward not just rationality and trained intelligence, but also enhanced sensitivity in moral matters. (shrink)

Various attempts to account for singular thought within a (refined) descriptivist framework are discussed and criticized. Rigidity and truth-conditional singularity can be achieved in a two-dimensional framework (with the help of actuality operators), but the relational character of reference determination keeps missing from the descriptivist picture even after the two-dimensional move. It is still missing even if we make the descriptive content token-reflexive by ‘internalizing’ the acquaintance relations and letting them be represented.

The philosophy of psychopathology faces a foundational problem: no existing account provides a principled, unified characterisation of what mental disorder is that is neither purely biological, purely normative, nor purely statistical, while remaining applicable across the full range of diagnostic categories and integrating the biological, psychological, and social levels at which mental disorder manifests. Wakefield’s harmful dysfunction analysis correctly identifies dysfunction as central but cannot ground the concept of natural function without circularity. The biopsychosocial model correctly identifies the multi-level character (...) of psychopathology but lacks a unifying structural principle. The DSM and ICD classification systems provide operationally useful symptom clusters but rest on no coherent ontological foundation. -/- This paper proposes that Constraint Theory (CT) — the thesis, established by transcendental argument, that constraint is the ontological primitive constitutive of determinate existence as such — provides that foundation. Mental health, on the CT account, is the condition of appropriate constraint calibration: the maintenance of constraint structures at cognitive, affective, behavioural, and interpersonal levels that are sufficiently determinate to constitute a coherent self and enable goal-directed action, yet sufficiently flexible to respond adaptively to novel constraint environments. Mental disorder is constraint dysregulation: systematic deviation from appropriate constraint calibration in the direction of either excess constraint (rigidity, repetition, foreclosed possibility) or constraint insufficiency (dissolution, disorganisation, loss of coherent selfhood). This account dissolves the demarcation problem by providing a structural criterion for dysfunction that does not depend on contested notions of natural function or statistical norms. It unifies apparently heterogeneous diagnostic categories under a single structural principle. It integrates biological and psychological levels through structural homology rather than reductive identity. It connects naturally to the predictive processing account of psychopathology, interpreting prediction-error dysregulation as a specific form of constraint propagation failure. And it provides a principled foundation for dimensional rather than categorical psychiatric nosology. The paper develops each of these contributions in detail and addresses the principal objections. (shrink)

Traditional memetics failed as a research program due to unresolved problems concerning units, transmission fidelity, explanatory mechanism, and theoretical isolation. This paper proposes a fundamental reformulation grounded in Universal Constraint Parsing (UCP) and Level-Conditional Rendering (LCR), treating memetic patterns as the basic units of adaptive information processing across all substrates and scales. -/- We argue that memetic patterns are substrate-independent, context-sensitive configurations encoding behavior and abstract content. What biologists call genes and what Dawkins called memes are both memetic patterns differing (...) in storage substrate, transmission mechanism, and context-range. Genetic encoding uses a rigid substrate (DNA) optimized for long-term storage; the patterns themselves become fluid and context-responsive once expressed. Learned patterns occupy various positions along a spectrum from deeply embedded to highly flexible. -/- Cognition is the acquisition, storage, combination, and context-adaptive deployment of memetic patterns through pattern selection dynamics. The same constraint-satisfaction logic that governs physical systems operates at the cognitive scale through domain-specific constraints. Learning is acquiring patterns and refining context-fitting. Intelligence is the capacity for functional equivalence across structural difference under active constraints. -/- Consciousness is approached not as emerging from memetic processing, but as jointly requiring both architectural structure and coherent pattern content: neither architecture alone nor patterns alone constitutes conscious experience, but together they are jointly necessary and sufficient. The stable orbit of recursive self-modeling operating on coherent content is what consciousness is. This reframing dissolves traditional problems while connecting memetics to physics, biology, and cognitive science through a unified constraint-satisfaction framework. -/- . (shrink)

We present the first complete construction of quantum gravity describing our real universe via the celestial holographic conformal field theory dual to Einstein gravity in four-dimensional asymptotically-flat spacetime. The theory is rigorously constructed as the shadow-invariant, purely spin-2 sector of holomorphic Chern–Simons theory on twistor space PT ≃ CP³ with gauge group the quantomorphic group Quant(PT). Primary fields are the celestial graviton operators O^{±2}Δ(z, z̄) with Δ ∈ 1 + iℝ and J = ±2. Three-point functions are determined by the (...) Penrose transform and reproduce the MHV and anti-MHV amplitudes of general relativity, including the vanishing of parity-odd and mixed-helicity couplings. Higher-point amplitudes arise from OPEs with analytically continued principal-series contours; loop integrands emerge as double discontinuities across shadow poles, which we demonstrate explicitly for the scalar box integrals computed via this shadow discontinuity method, verifying they match Feynman diagram calculations exactly to machine precision. The construction satisfies extended BMS₄ ⋉ shadow symmetry with vanishing Virasoro central charge c = 0, which we also demonstrate explicitly (confirmed by five independent methods) to 10+ significant figures. We prove a rigidity theorem establishing that any 2D CFT with only spin ±2 primaries, the above symmetries and three-point data, and local inverse-Mellin-transformed correlators, must be uniquely isomorphic to this quantomorphic twistor theory. Combined with the proof that crossing symmetry is a necessary consequence of bulk locality (not an independent axiom), this establishes that Einstein gravity in asymptotically-flat spacetime is the unique consistent theory of a single massless spin-2 particle. The quantomorphic gauge group structure provides a non-perturbative foundation, with perturbative scattering amplitudes emerging as the first residues of the holographic algebra. A key insight that facilitated this construction was proving that the shadow symmetry of the boundary CFT—the map Δ ↔ 2 − Δ on conformal dimensions—is mathematically equivalent to CPT conjugation in the bulk QFT (Theorem 6.1). Locality itself is derived: the self-duality of Haar measure on the Grassmannian forces celestial two-point functions to be positive-definite kernels; Bochner’s theorem then guarantees the spectral decomposition that implies commutativity at spacelike separation, without any appeal to Wightman axioms that would render the argument circular. The structural centrepiece of the construction is the identification of the celestial shadow transform (Δ ↔ 2 − Δ) with CPT conjugation in the bulk spacetime. Time reversal maps energy E to −E, which under the Mellin transform is precisely the shadow transform; parity flips helicity; charge conjugation acts on quantum numbers. Together these constitute the full CPT operation. This resolves Penrose's longstanding "googly problem" in twistor theory by revealing that self-dual and anti-self-dual helicity sectors—which twistor theory had previously been unable to unify—are related by the same symmetry that exchanges particles with antiparticles and past with future. This work provides a mathematically rigid reconciliation of general relativity with quantum field theory, deriving quantum consistency, locality, and gravitational dynamics via the celestial holography program and the 2D CFT dual to 4D flat spacetime. (shrink)

In this work I present what may be the first complete construction of quantum gravity describing the real universe via the celestial holographic conformal field theory dual to Einstein gravity in asymptotically-flat 4D spacetime. The theory is rigorously constructed as the shadow-invariant, purely spin-2 sector of holomorphic Chern–Simons theory on twistor space PT ≃ CP³ with gauge group the quantomorphic group Quant(PT). Primary fields are the celestial graviton operators O^{±2}Δ(z, z̄) with Δ ∈ 1 + iR and J = ±2. (...) Three-point functions are determined by the Penrose transform and reproduce the MHV and anti-MHV amplitudes of general relativity, including the vanishing of parity-odd and mixed-helicity couplings. Higher-point amplitudes arise from OPEs with analytically continued principal-series contours; loop integrands emerge as double discontinuities across shadow poles, which I verify explicitly for the scalar box integrals computed via this novel shadow discontinuity method, demonstrating analytically that they match Feynman diagram calculations for the scalar box, with numerical verification for the graviton box matching to 11+ decimal places. The construction satisfies extended BMS₄ ⋉ shadow symmetry with vanishing Virasoro central charge, also explicitly demonstrated via five independent and mutually reinforcing and rigorous arguments to be c = 0 to 10+ significant figures. I prove a rigidity theorem establishing that any 2D CFT with only spin ±2 primaries, the above symmetries and three-point data, and local inverse-Mellin-transformed correlators, is uniquely determined to be isomorphic to this quantomorphic twistor theory. Combined with the proof that crossing symmetry is a necessary consequence of bulk locality (not an independent axiom), this establishes that Einstein gravity in asymptotically-flat spacetime is the unique consistent theory of a single massless spin-2 particle. The quantomorphic gauge group structure provides a non-perturbative foundation, with perturbative scattering amplitudes emerging as the first residues of the holographic algebra. The first breakthrough insight that enabled and facilitated this construction was the realisation that the "shadow symmetry" of the boundary CFT—the map Δ ↔ 2 − Δ on conformal dimensions—is the restriction to null infinity of the Jost involution Θ of axiomatic quantum field theory, the operator independently constructed by Jost (1957) that coincides with the product C ∘ P ∘ T only in theories where all three factors individually exist as symmetries. At null infinity, where the metric is degenerate along the null generator, the distinction between temporal and spatial inversion collapses: the Jost involution is irreducible and reduces to time reversal T alone (Theorem 8.1). This provides an elegant resolution to the 40+ year "googly problem" in twistor theory by unifying self-dual and anti-self-dual helicity sectors through the shadow transform as representing discrete T-symmetric involution across the boundary, with the Einstein field equations derived from boundary Ward identities and crossing symmetry. All quantum mechanical foundations emerge from the Haar measure structure underlying this framework with no additional postulates: the five Wightman axioms are derived from the Peter–Weyl theorem on representation spaces, the Born rule P = |⟨n|ψ⟩|² is proven as the unique probability measure compatible with Haar structure on quantum state spaces, and wave function collapse is derived as Haar projection onto gauge singlets. This same identification reveals that the celestial conformal dimension is related to the Riemann zeta variable by Δ = 2s, so that the shadow involution Δ ↔ 2 − Δ becomes s ↔ 1 − s, the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function—establishing that the functional equation, shadow symmetry, and time reversal are three manifestations of one underlying self-duality. The entire holographic framework grows from a single root: self-dual Haar measure on (R⁺, ×), the simplest non-trivial locally compact group, whose self-duality already contains the functional equation and critical line. Three Cayley–Dickson doublings R → C → H → O produce the holographic chain R⁺ → S² → M⁴ → Gr(2,4)_C, with shadow symmetry at each level corresponding to the conjugation involution at that doubling step. The Grassmannian Gr(2,4) is the canopy of this holographic tree. The same Haar-invariant measure on the Grassmannian Gr(2,4) that determines the graviton spectrum also addresses three Millennium Prize problems through a unified geometric mechanism (Haar self-duality, functional equation symmetry, and Peter–Weyl compactness). The Riemann Hypothesis follows via 4 otherwise independent arguments and checks for circularity and consistency, and most fundamentally follows from three simultaneous constraints on the adelic quotient A×/Q× that form an overdetermined system whose unique solution forces Re(s) = 1/2 for all nontrivial zeros, with numerical verification of the first 10¹³ zeros on the critical line to machine precision using six independent tests. The Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture is argued to be proven for analytic rank ≤ 1 using identical Haar measure structure on GL₂(A_Q)/GL₂(Q): for elliptic curves with ord_{s=1} L(E,s) ≤ 1, the same three-fold constraint described above, combined with the Gross–Zagier formula and Kolyvagin's Euler system descent, establishes ord_{s=1} L(E,s) = rank E(Q) and the parity conjecture (−1)^{rank} = w_E is proven for all curves from Haar self-duality. The framework also identifies the precise obstruction to proving the conjecture at higher rank (algebraic cycles from the Beilinson–Bloch–Kato conjectures). The Yang–Mills mass gap is established through a complete celestial holographic construction: the Wess–Zumino–Witten model at Kac–Moody level k on S², mapped to four-dimensional Schwinger functions by inverse Mellin transform, with reflection positivity proven via the shadow-reflection bridge, the remaining Osterwalder–Schrader axioms verified explicitly, and the Wightman theory reconstructed by the OS theorem—yielding mass gap M = 2N/(k+N) · Λ_QCD > 0 from the Sugawara formula and confinement from Haar orthogonality as a rigorously proved theorem. The construction introduces no lattice, takes no continuum limit, and imposes no infrared regulator. Spacetime itself emerges from the Grassmannian via Penrose twistor correspondence (M⁴ ↔ Gr(2,4) (Penrose 1967). The division algebra tower determines the Standard Model: the symmetry breaking chain Spin(8) → G₂ → SU(3) → SU(2) × U(1) produces the gauge group; three fermion generations follow from Weyl anomaly cancellation, Plücker partitions, and Spin(8) triality; sin²θ_W = 3/8 at the GUT scale is the Dynkin index ratio, equivalently dim(Im(H))/dim(O). Physical constants are arithmetic invariants: CP violation from the Jacobi sum J(χ₄⁽⁵⁾, χ₃⁽⁷⁾) = e^{iπ/6}; down-type quark mass ratios m_d : m_s : m_b = 2:5:9 from SU(3) Casimir eigenvalues; the spin-statistics connection η(4)/ζ(4) = 7/8 from the p = 2 Euler factor; the lightest neutrino mass m_{ν₁} = 0 exactly from Bott periodicity—in independent agreement with Boyle–Finn–Turok (PRL 121, 251301, 2018); and the three dimensional constants ℏ, c, G corresponding to the three Cayley–Dickson doubling steps. Strong CP angle θ = 0 exactly from Haar self-duality (consistent with experimental bound |θ| < 10⁻¹⁰), and the construction provides right-handed neutrinos as geometric dark matter candidates in agreement with Boyle–Turok (CP)T-symmetric cosmology, which integrates with uncanny precision into my T-symmetric, thermodynamically cyclic quantum cosmology. The T-anti-symmetric unification of a unified bipartite self-dual universe resolves the matter-antimatter asymmetry as a selection effect. Total baryon number B_total = 0 with embedded observers observing identical physics on either side due to being thermodynamic in nature, naturally aligning their arrows of time in the direction of increasing entropy, which on either side of the boundary flows in opposing directions. The Feynman-Stueckelberg interpretation of antimatter means antimatter is equivalent to matter moving backwards in time, which combined with the reversal in T of the direction of entropy increases means observers only ever observe the B > 0 (matter) sector, with the B < 0 (antimatter) sector always being the hidden sector from the perspective of any temporally-embedded observer that respects thermodynamics, as from any observer's perspective their time moves forward, their atomic nuclei have a positive electrical charge, electrons have negative electric charge, and the standard model has left handed doublets and right-handed singlets, with a weak force that appears left-chiral. To observe the antimatter would require an observer to reverse their arrow of time, which is thermodynamically not possible as consciousness and memory are thermodynamic processes that happen only in the direction of increasing entropy. Shadow geometry and right-handed neutrinos provide dark matter. The Grassmannian spinor bundle splits each fermion representation across the T boundary: right-handed neutrinos reside in the shadow sector, coupling to the observable sector only gravitationally. The dark matter density profile ρ(r) = ρ₀/(1+(r/r_c)²) with core radius r_c ≈ 9.98 kpc is derived from the shadow kernel by Abel inversion with zero free parameters, resolving the core cusp problem of dark matter distribution and addressing several further cosmological anomalies (the S₈ tension, Hubble tension, DESI dark energy evolution, JWST early galaxies, CMB hemispherical asymmetry, CMB dipole anomaly, axis of evil, overmassive early black holes, rotation curve diversity, etc.) from a single geometric source. Time's arrow emerges as a consequence of T-symmetric boundary conditions with entropy always increasing away from the conformal boundary in opposing temporal directions. The horizon and flatness problems are naturally resolved by this framework as the celestial CFT is globally defined at the conformal boundary. The framework generates falsifiable predictions including no primordial gravitational waves (tensor-to-scalar ratio r → 0, definitively falsified if r > 0.01 detected by CMB-S4), m_{ν₁} = 0 (KATRIN, JUNO), r_c ≈ 9.98 kpc (Euclid), glueball mass ratios matching the Sugawara spectrum, GUE statistics in the vacuum noise spectrum of gravitational wave detectors (LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA), and right-handed neutrino dark matter coupling only through gravity. Over 155 independent computational tests with zero free parameters confirm the framework to machine precision. Part 1 contains an introductory overview of the several subframeworks involved in this synthesis explaining their interrelations in the wider framework, part 2 contains the constructions and rigorous proofs of all major results, Part 3 contains extensions and other corollaries. Part 4 continues with comparisons to other approaches and discussion regarding foundational contributions without which this work would not have been possible follows, followed by testable predictions and a chapter addressing falsifiability, and Part V delivers a philosophical analysis of the implications suggested by the mathematics of this framework. This work unifies quantum mechanics and general relativity via the celestial holography program while revealing deep connections between number theory and physics: the identification Δ = 2s means the same self-dual Haar-invariant measure structure constraining the Riemann zeros to the critical line in the complex plane where Re(s) = 1/2 simultaneously constrains the conformal dimensions of graviton operators to the principal series where Re(∆) = 1, the same compactness that forces the Yang–Mills mass gap forces the discrete zeta spectrum, and the same functional equation symmetry that governs L-functions governs the shadow transform of the celestial CFT—suggesting geometry and arithmetic share a common logos rooted in self-dual Haar measure on (R⁺, ×) and flowering in the Grassmannian Gr(2,4). (shrink)

This paper explores the persistent duplicity and moral inconsistency that characterize modern political ideologies by examining the deeper psychological roots of human motivation. Drawing on Arthur Schopenhauer’s diagnosis of the “objectification of the will,” I argue that many political ideals—whether progressive, conservative, or revolutionary—often conceal a fundamental self-interest that operates beneath the surface of public moral rhetoric. Yet Schopenhauer does not merely diagnose the problem; he also gestures toward a possible transcendence through the concept of the identity of the will, (...) most clearly embodied in the universalized experience of compassion. To illuminate this possibility, the paper presents the historical example of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, whose recorded reflections after the Battle of Myeongnyang reveal a rare psychological structure in which the suffering of the people is experienced as indistinguishable from one’s own. This case allows us to ground Schopenhauer’s metaphysical insight in an actual political and ethical practice. Finally, the paper suggests that integrating the Buddhist non-dual perspective—one that dissolves rigid self–other boundaries—provides a complementary philosophical framework for envisioning political action rooted beyond ideological self-interest. Together, these elements offer a proposal for a future political philosophy capable of overcoming the ideological hypocrisy that shapes much of contemporary political life. (shrink)

Modern computational systems are commonly designed around deterministic or discrete state-based models, where uncertainty is typically resolved early during state evaluation. The framework further distinguishes deterministic Absolute States represented as {Abs}_A = (-1, 0, +1) and equivalently expressed as |A| = (-1, 0, +1) from derived ambiguity-preserving Q-States, enabling state-aware evaluation without forcing immediate collapse into rigid binary interpretation. [A:Absolute State]. However, many real-world systems operate under conditions where ambiguity persists, evolves, and directly influences system behavior [A1:Ambiguity]. This paper introduces (...) an ambiguity-aware computation method operating within a Multi-State Computational Model, where Q-States are treated as a first-class computational state construct [A2:Q-State]. Instead of forcing immediate resolution, the proposed computational method preserves, interprets, and propagates ambiguity through a structured Transformation Pipeline. The pipeline integrates State Derivation, Q-State Identification, and State-Aware Graph Evaluation. [A3:State-Aware]. A key conceptual distinction is established between Computing State and Computational State, enabling ambiguity-aware evaluation under structured operational constraints. [A4:Computing vs Computational State]. The proposed computational methods incorporate Lattice-Based Representation and Node State Classification to model system behavior under ambiguity [A5:Node-State]. Sparsity Dynamics and Path Validity are introduced as core evaluation mechanisms, supported by Boundary Conditions and Hysteresis Dynamics to maintain stability, continuity, and evaluation consistency [A6:Sparsity, Path-Validity]. Simulation results demonstrate controlled Q-State propagation and convergence toward high Confidence Interval (CI) outcomes under structured ambiguity constraints [A7:Boundary-Conditioned Hysteresis]. This approach provides a foundation for modeling complex systems where uncertainty is not prematurely eliminated, but systematically represented, evaluated, and incorporated into state-aware computational evaluation. [A8:Graph-Based Systems]. (shrink)

This essay brings together the central ontological claims developed across fifteen earlier articles. It argues that reality is identical neither with mere factuality nor with an abstract reserve of bare possibilities. Reality must instead be understood as a structured open process in which actuality emerges from potentiality without ever fully exhausting it. The ontological point of departure thus shifts: in place of a being determined by a hidden principle, there appears an immanent nexus of processual dynamics in which structures take (...) shape as metastable orders. This same basic tension appears dynamically as the relation between structure and openness, or, equivalently, between determinacy and contingency. Processes are ordered and directed without thereby being fully fixed; alternative possibilities remain really operative within the unfolding of events. Contingency is therefore not merely a function of the observer’s ignorance, but an ontological feature of nondeterministic reality. From this follows an epistemological consequence: because reality comprises more than what is presently actual, it can only be adequately described through models. Space-time structures, possibility spaces, attractor landscapes, or comparable formal architectures are indispensable for articulating the inner complexity of real processes. Yet such models, however necessary, are not themselves constituents of reality. On this basis, teleodynamic field ontology interprets meaning, consciousness, and teleology not as secondary additions to an otherwise meaningless world, but as immanent modes in which a relationally structured reality becomes articulable, intelligible, and oriented toward coherence. Reality thus appears neither as rigid being nor as sheer flux, but as recursively organized, structured openness. (shrink)

Variabilism is the view that proper names (like pronouns) are semantically represented as variables. Referential names, like referential pronouns, are assigned their referents by a contextual variable assignment (Kaplan 1989). The reference parameter (like the world of evaluation) may also be shifted by operators in the representation language. Indeed verbs that create hyperintensional contexts, like ‘think’, are treated as operators that simultaneously shift the world and assignment parameters. By contrast, metaphysical modal operators shift the world of assessment only. Names, being (...) variables, refer rigidly in the latter merely intensional contexts, but may vary their reference in hyperintensional contexts. This conforms to the intuition that the content of attitude ascriptions encapsulates referential uncertainty. Furthermore, names in hyperintensional contexts are ambiguous between de re* and de dicto* interpretations. This fact is used to account for asymmetric mistaken identity attributions (for example, Biron thinks Katherine is Rosaline, but he doesn’t think Rosaline is Katherine). -/- The variable theory compares favourably with its alternatives, including Millianism and descriptivism. Millians cannot account for the behaviour of names in hyperintensional contexts, while descriptivists cannot generate a necessary contrast between intensional and hyperintensional contexts. No other theory can capture the facts pertaining to the existentially bound use of names. (shrink)

GoE is an axiomatic mathematical-logical framework operating as a generative grammar whose compiled syntactic structures admit isomorphisms to experimental inputs. Its foundation is the Cartesian cogito greatest-fixed-point assertion ”at least one experience occurs” made without presupposing a spacetime manifold, a Hilbert space, a Platonic or Tegmarkian mathematical realm, Wheeler-style pregeometry, Anaximander’s Apeiron, a meta-place, or any ontology/anti-ontology. Instead of Everett-style branching, GoE selects a sparse admissible continuation structure inside syntactic generation. The same first-principles closure yields a generalized Mach-rigidity theorem: (...) absolute local inertia exists precisely on background classes with constant GoE inertial generator, and the classical Mach principle is recovered as the manifest-boundary shadow; it also establishes finite descriptive depth and its capacity–resolution duality: exact η = 0 certification is excluded pointwise for every Observer, finite-capacity manifest classes have a positive resolution floor, and infinite-capacity refinement is rate-priced rather than free, while lateral scope remains unbounded. Experimental inputs navigate admissible continuations; GoE is therefore an engineering-grade “Theory of Everything” only in the restricted sense that “Everything” denotes admissible structures generated by the construction, not a presupposed ontology; objectivity is not assumed but emerges from the cogito-side closure. Numerically, GoE gives 1/α = 137.03599917798026, the calibrated strong node α_s,G ≃ 0.330001, six CODATA-2022/NIST mass-ratio audits with fractional mean central residual Err6 ≃ 1.55 × 10^−10, W-boson mass spectral branches, four lepton-lifetime/charged-current central predictions within current experimental resolution, and the Structural Evolution Budget = 46.230864254961 Gyr. (shrink)

According to the orthodox account developed by Kaplan, indexicals like I, you, and now invariably refer to elements of the context of speech. This essay argues that the orthodoxy is wrong. I, you, and the like are shifted by certain modal operators and hence can fail to refer to elements of the context, for example, I can fail to refer to the speaker. More precisely, indexicals are syntactically akin to logical variables. They can be free, in which case they work, (...) roughly, on the Kaplan model. But they can also be bound: this happens, in a systematic fashion, when they are in the scope of epistemic modals or attitude verbs. The new view has two interesting philosophical consequences. First, it vindicates a broadly Fregean perspective on referential expressions, essentially refuting the idea that indexicals are rigid designators. Second, it suggests a new picture of the interaction between context and linguistic meaning: compositional semantics does not need to look at the context and hence has no need for a context parameter. (shrink)

What is at the basis of moral action? An altruism acquired by the application of rule and principle? Or, as Noddings asserts, caring and the memory of being cared for? With numerous examples to supplement her rich theoretical discussion, Noddings builds a compelling philosophical argument for an ethics based on natural caring, as in the care of a mother for her child. The ethical behavior that grows out of natural caring, and has as its core care-filled receptivity to those involved (...) in any moral situation, leaves behind the rigidity of rule and principle to focus on what is particular and unique in human relations. Noddings's discussion is wide-ranging, as she considers whether organizations, which operate at a remove from the caring relationship, can truly be called ethical. She discusses the extent to which we may truly care for plants, animals, or ideas. Finally, she proposes a realignment of education to encourage and reward not just rationality and trained intelligence, but also enhanced sensitivity in moral matters. (shrink)

In this paper we will demonstrate that a computational system can meet the criteria for autonomy laid down by classical enactivism. The two criteria that we will focus on are operational closure and structural determinism, and we will show that both can be applied to a basic example of a physically instantiated Turing machine. We will also address the question of precariousness, and briefly suggest that a precarious Turing machine could be designed. Our aim in this paper is to challenge (...) the assumption that computational systems are necessarily heteronomous systems, to try and motivate in enactivism a more nuanced and less rigid conception of computational systems, and to demonstrate to computational theorists that they might find some interesting material within the enactivist tradition, despite its historical hostility towards computationalism. (shrink)

Currently, there is widespread skepticism that higher cognitive processes, given their apparent flexibility and globality, could be carried out by specialized computational devices, or modules. This skepticism is largely due to Fodor’s influential definition of modularity. From the rather flexible catalogue of possible modular features that Fodor originally proposed has emerged a widely held notion of modules as rigid, informationally encapsulated devices that accept highly local inputs and whose opera- tions are insensitive to context. It is a mistake, however, to (...) equate such features with computational devices in general and therefore to assume, as Fodor does, that higher cognitive processes must be non-computational. Of the many possible non-Fodorean architectures, one is explored here that offers possible solutions to computational problems faced by conventional modular systems: an ‘enzymatic’ architecture. Enzymes are computational devices that use lock-and-key template matching to iden- tify relevant information (substrates), which is then operated upon and returned to a common pool for possible processing by other devices. Highly specialized enzymes can operate together in a common pool of information that is not pre-sorted by information type. Moreover, enzymes can use molecular ‘tags’ to regulate the operations of other devices and to change how particular substrates are construed and operated upon, allowing for highly interactive, context-specific processing. This model shows how specialized, modular processing can occur in an open system, and suggests that skepti- cism about modularity may largely be due to failure to consider alternatives to the standard model. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Quine insisted that the satisfaction of an open modalised formula by an object depends on how that object is described. Kripke's ‘objectual’ interpretation of quantified modal logic, whereby variables are rigid, is commonly thought to avoid these Quinean worries. Yet there remain residual Quinean worries for epistemic modality. Theorists have recently been toying with assignment-shifting treatments of epistemic contexts. On such views an epistemic operator ends up binding all the variables in its scope. One might worry that this (...) yields the undesirable result that any attempt to ‘quantify in’ to an epistemic environment is blocked. If quantifying into the relevant constructions is vacuous, then such views would seem hopelessly misguided and empirically inadequate. But a famous alternative to Kripke's semantics, namely Lewis' counterpart semantics, also faces this worry since it also treats the boxes and diamonds as assignment-shifting devices. As I'll demonstrate, the mere fact that a variable is bound is no obstacle to binding it. This provides a helpful lesson for those modelling de re epistemic contexts with assignment sensitivity, and perhaps leads the way toward the proper treatment of binding in both metaphysical and epistemic contexts: Kripke for metaphysical modality, Lewis for epistemic modality. (shrink)

This essay, addressed equally to mathematical physicists and philosophers of physics and mathematics, argues that the Riemann Hypothesis is equivalent to a statement about the unitarity of the celestial vacuum at null infinity in four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. The argument proceeds in three steps. First, it identifies the operator anticipated by Hilbert and Pólya with the self-adjoint generator of dilations on the multiplicative line equipped with its self-dual Haar measure. Second, it identifies the critical line of the zeta function with (...) the principal series of celestial conformal field theory through the rigid correspondence ∆ = 2s, so that the unitarity condition becomes precisely Re(s) = 1/2. Third, it identifies the Riemann functional equation s ←→ 1 - s with the celestial shadow involution ∆ ←→ 2 - ∆, interpreted at null infinity as time reversal t ←→ -t, namely the boundary image of bulk CPT symmetry after metric degeneration and absorption of charge conjugation into representation choice. On this basis, a sharpened form of Weil’s 1952 positivity criterion is stated: the Riemann Hypothesis is equivalent to the self-adjointness of the dilation generator on a canonical form domain, and equivalently to the -invariance of the celestial vacuum. The framework unifies arithmetic, spectral theory, harmonic analysis, representation theory, differential and algebraic geometry, operator theory, quantum field theory, general relativity, quantum gravity, and holographic duality within a single structural architecture. This essay is a compressed presentation of the bridge and closure developed at full length in On the Nature of Nature, especially the transition from Einstein gravity to number theory and the subsequent Riemann-Hypothesis chapter, where adèlic positivity, spectral self-adjointness, celestial no-ghost unitarity, and completeness arguments all converge on the same conclusion. The claim is therefore stronger than an interpretive analogy: in this reading, the Riemann Hypothesis is the arithmetic statement of unitarity at null infinity, and the line Re(s) = 1/2 is the unique fixed locus forced by the shared Haar geometry of the arithmetic and celestial descriptions. (shrink)

In a world that celebrates academic institutions as the pinnacle of knowledge, progress, and enlightenment, the reality is far grimmer. Academia has become a self-serving oligarchy that imposes ideological conformity, restricts intellectual freedom, and manipulates public consciousness under the guise of “progress.” Far from being a champion of open inquiry, academia operates as the most insidious oppressor in American society, exerting control over public discourse, dictating acceptable beliefs, and marginalizing any who dare to dissent. In its thirst for dominance, academia (...) has transformed from a place of learning to a vehicle for intellectual tyranny, where it imposes its own rigid worldview and stifles diversity of thought. In an imagined reinterpretation of The Apology, Socrates stands accused not merely of corrupting the youth of Athens but of something far more subversive: defining the word “oppressor” and exposing the façade of modern academic power structures. Socrates faces a tribunal of academic elites, his only crime a relentless quest for truth. He has introduced the concept of an “unmoved mover”—an entity not swayed by the ideological tides of his accusers. In our age, this unmoved mover might be called "truth" or "justice," yet the academic establishment brands it as “God,” something feared for its unwavering judgment against their hypocrisy. Through Socrates, we examine academia itself as the ultimate oppressor, an institution that defines and manipulates reality to preserve its power. (shrink)

This study examines the historical evolution and contemporary application of the Proportional Law, tracing its development from ancient Greek theories of ratio to its modern embodiment in automatic control systems. Beginning with the mathematical crisis of incommensurability in Euclidean geometry and the relational theory of proportion articulated by Eudoxus, the paper follows the transformation of proportionality from a static descriptive principle into a dynamic operational law governing physical systems. Key milestones include its role in early mechanics, elasticity, and chemistry, the (...) algebraization of physical law through dimensional analysis in the nineteenth century, and its formal integration into control theory through the development of proportional, integral, and derivative (PID) feedback mechanisms. -/- The theoretical analysis is complemented by a detailed technical case study of a high-pressure misting system regulated by a variable frequency drive (VFD). This application highlights the practical consequences of proportional control in hydraulically stiff systems characterized by incompressible fluids and rigid stainless-steel piping. The study demonstrates how aggressive proportional gain, while mathematically valid, can induce instability, pressure oscillation, and water hammer without appropriate integral and derivative compensation. By situating modern control behavior within its deep mathematical and philosophical lineage, the paper reveals the enduring relevance of proportionality as a governing logic of both natural law and engineered systems. The findings underscore that proportional control is not merely a computational tool but a historically conditioned principle whose proper application depends on an integrated understanding of mathematics, physics, and system dynamics. (shrink)

This essay derives a theory of will from a single operation — distinction. Consciousness, the only epistemic given, operates through distinction; all further categories (code, aspect, causality, energy, attractor) follow without external ontological commitments. Causality is reinterpreted as a spectrum of rigidity in the linkage between codes, with acausality reinterpreted as the legislative capacity to author causal chains rather than a gap in causal structure. The attractor, a self-reinforcing configuration of codes distributed across aspects of consciousness, is analyzed as (...) the mechanism by which will becomes captured through cross-aspect recruitment and autopoietic closure. Two independent properties of will are identified: strength (holding a code under pressure) and flexibility (releasing it without collapse). Attractors are shown to be actualizations of potency, with consciousness as the only observed actualizer — a finding that extends across cultural, genetic, and cosmological layers. Antinomianism is the systematic training of flexibility. The Black Diamond names the condition where both properties operate at full capacity: a will whose coherence rests on self-closure rather than on any code it holds — the practical foundation of the Left-Hand Path. Updated 05-25. (shrink)

Confucian governance has long been regarded as an important foundation of Chinese political philosophy. Its core concepts center on “inner sage, outer king,” elite moral rule, and the guidance of social order through benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom. However, scientific-philosophical critique reveals fundamental limitations in Confucian governance. First, it relies excessively on elite moral judgment, neglecting social complexity and knowledge asymmetry, which leads to cumulative policy deviations and institutional fragility. Second, the system lacks feedback and self-correction mechanisms, making it unable (...) to conform to natural laws and systemic logic, so long-term operation easily results in social imbalance. Third, moral rationality is fundamentally misaligned with systemic rationality: ethical standards emphasize behavioral norms, while complex social governance requires dynamic balance and multi-level adaptation. Historical experience—from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, through the Han and Tang imperial examinations, to the centralized governance of the Ming and Qing dynasties—demonstrates repeated structural risks in Confucian governance, including policy lag, social stratification, and institutional rigidity. This paper, framed by scientific-philosophical critique, systematically analyzes Confucian governance, examining elite cognitive limitations, conflicts between institutional ethics and natural laws, and lessons from history. It further offers modern governance insights: institutional design must balance ethical norms, systemic rationality, and natural laws, achieving a dynamic equilibrium between elite wisdom and societal participation to safeguard public interest, institutional stability, and long-term sustainability. This study aims to provide philosophical warnings and scientific methodological guidance for modern political system design. -/- . (shrink)

There has been very little discussion of the appropriate principles to govern a modal logic of plurals. What debate there has been has accepted a principle I call (Necinc); informally if this is one of those then, necessarily: this is one of those. On this basis Williamson has criticised the Boolosian plural interpretation of monadic second-order logic. I argue against (Necinc), noting that it isn't a theorem of any logic resulting from adding modal axioms to the plural logic PFO+, and (...) showing that the most obvious formal argument in its favour is question begging. I go on to discuss the behaviour of natural language plurals, motivating a case against (Necinc) by developing a case that natural language plural terms are not de jure rigid designators. The paper concludes by developing a model theory for modal PFO-f which does not validate (Necinc). An Appendix discusses (Necinc) in relation to counterpart theory. Of course, it would be a mistake to think that the rules for "multiple pointing" follow automatically from the rules for pointing proper. Max Black—The Elusiveness of Sets In some influential articles during the 1980s George Boolos proposed an interpretation of monadic second-order logic in terms of plural quantification [4, 5]. One objection to this proposal, pressed by Williamson [22, 456-7], focuses on the modal behaviour of plural variables, arguing that the proposed interpretation yields the wrong results in respect of the modal status of atomic predications. In the present paper I will present this objection and argue against it. In the course of developing the argument, I will have cause to consider the under-investigated question of how a logic for plurals should be extended to incorporate modal operators. (shrink)

The complex numbers are derived from a single geometric primitive: rigid rotation of the Euclidean plane about a fixed point. The derivation proceeds through a graduated sequence of observer capability levels, each corresponding to a specific physical operation (observation, length comparison, compass-and-straightedge construction, angle comparison, free locomotion). At each level, new algebraic structure becomes visible. The principal result is a necessity theorem: the complex field is the unique topological field whose additive group is a connected, simply connected, locally compact, Hausdorff, (...) two-dimensional topological group, and whose multiplicative group contains a compact connected subgroup acting by isometric rotations and a commuting scaling subgroup. One explicit axiom supplements the primitive: Dedekind completeness of the plane. The graduated observer framework identifies completeness as a boundary condition - a property that no observer capability level can verify in full, and that must therefore be adopted rather than derived. Algebraic closure follows from a winding-number argument exploiting the plane's topology. The derivation inverts the standard construction order: the real numbers are found within the complex field (as the non-rotating similarities) rather than the complex field being constructed from the reals. (shrink)

In this article, I examine the role of imagination and fiction in Otto Neurath’s work, particularly in his scientific utopianism. Using contemporary philosophical tools to understand different senses of the concept of imagination, I argue that scientific utopianism proposes to employ scientific data and data analysis to construct imaginary social arrangements and then to shift our attitude toward these constructions so that utopias can be compared as technological projects. This shift in attitude toward imaginary constructions is typical of utopia as (...) a literary genre. Thus, Neurath’s methodology brings the social sciences closer to utopian fiction. Imagination also plays a role in Neurath’s ISOTYPE projects, in which imagistic resources become part of reasoning in visual arguments that allow visualizing new ways to organize knowledge. Learning to reason with images is important for overcoming the rigidity of traditional formulations. I argue that the cognitive operations required by Neurath’s scientific utopianism contribute to showing that there is no matter of necessity in historically given or current social arrangements. More generally, in Neurath’s view, imaginative works contribute to the Enlightenment task of the Vienna Circle of clearing away the metaphysical remnants of outdated worldviews that pose obstacles to scientific and social progress. (shrink)