Using only elementary mechanics, we show that the decomposition of force into parallel and orthogonal components reveals two distinct physical interactions. In idealized systems these components are lossless, but real systems contain constraints that produce dissipation. Since quantum mechanics and general relativity are both constraint-free theories describing a universe full of coupled subsystems, any unification must necessarily incorporate dissipation and the arrow of time. This paper is an introduction to principles that underly the paper Dissipative Quantum Hydrodynamics: A Symmetric Interaction Between QM and GR (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30615254)
We propose a minimal ontological framework in which selection — theactualization of an element from a possibility space — is the soleprimitive. From this postulate, a recursively grown selection graph anda local coherence measure kappa induce temporal partial ordering,identity as basin stabilization, and the subject-object distinction asan internal basin partition. Description is selection; first-personstructure emerges as recursive self-indexed closure within stabilizedbasins; agency is self-indexed coherence elevation under indeterminacy. The framework introduces no new empirical predictions but constrainsadmissible ontological interpretations by eliminating categoryseparation between structure and experience. The central result is adissolution — rather than a solution — of the hard problem ofconsciousness: with selection as primitive, no additional primitive isavailable to ground a structure/experience distinction, and thedistinction cannot be coherently formulated within the framework. Thecoherence measure kappa is grounded as the zero-order approximation ofaverage pairwise mutual information, fixing the meaning of theneighbourhood scale k as a mutual-information horizon. Temporal order isderived by label-covariant sequential accretion, connecting the accountto causal set theory (Bombelli et al. 1987; Sorkin 2003), relationalquantum mechanics (Rovelli 1996), QBism (Fuchs, Mermin & Schack 2014),integrated information theory (Tononi 2004), and process ontology(Whitehead 1929). Open problems — Born-rule recovery, the numericalvalue of k, formal consistency verification, the combination problem,and the zero-depth limit — are stated without minimization. This preprint is part of an ongoing research program. A companionpaper, Selection Dynamics, Trace Ordering, and the Emergence ofTemporal Experience (doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.31225114), develops thetemporal-emergence claim at the phenomenological level, with aheart-rate-variability protocol for empirical test. Further companions:CDIL Unified Framework (doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.31566811); CoherenceBounds on Consciousness (doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.31724512); Kaluza-Kleinhidden-symmetry paper (doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.32916482). REFERENCES / RELATED MATERIALS (DOI field — cross-populates DataCite)---------------------------------------------------------------------10.6084/m9.figshare.3122511410.6084/m9.figshare.3156681110.6084/m9.figshare.3172451210.6084/m9.figshare.32916482