This paper describes the temporal nature of reality as a manifestation of a determinate, relational state from an observer’s temporal interaction with naturally constrained systems. This conceptual framework depends on the critical distinction between natural existence that does not depend upon an observer, and a determinate reality for an observer that is instantiated only through a qualifying interaction. For any observer O at time t, this relation is expressed schematically as IO(t) + PO(t) --> RO(t), where R is the reality instantiated for the observer, I is the interaction of the observer with naturally constrained systems, P the observer's presently instantiated physical and mental state. At this stage, this relationship is presented as a foundational schema rather than as a completed mathematical or computational formalism. By defining an observer in physical and functional terms, this framework de-anthropomorphizes the concept of observation. A minimal observer could be a simple sensor or other physical system in which environmental interaction produces a causally differentiated state, independent of consciousness, semantic interpretation, memory, or experience. More complex observers introduce additional capacities for retention, processing, interpretation, and experience, allowing continuity between successive realities through presently instantiated physical consequences of prior interactions. The framework further distinguishes observer-relative reality from objective correctness. While different observers may instantiate divergent realities based on physical variances, interactions and instantiated states, natural laws prevent these states from becoming arbitrary. Observers do not create natural laws, and subjective or algorithmic convergence can arise through reproducible interaction, shared physical constraints, and causal information propagation. In this sense, this framework provides a basis for algorithmic objectivity without requiring a single observer-independent representation of reality.
This paper describes the temporal nature of reality as a manifestation of a determinate, relational state from an observer’s temporal interaction with naturally constrained systems. This conceptual framework depends on the critical distinction between natural existence that does not depend upon an observer, and a determinate reality for an observer that is instantiated only through a qualifying interaction. For any observer O at time t, this relation is expressed schematically as IO(t) + PO(t) --> RO(t), where R is the reality instantiated for the observer, I is the interaction of the observer with naturally constrained systems, P the observer's presently instantiated physical and mental state. At this stage, this relationship is presented as a foundational schema rather than as a completed mathematical or computational formalism. By defining an observer in physical and functional terms, this framework de-anthropomorphizes the concept of observation. A minimal observer could be a simple sensor or other physical system in which environmental interaction produces a causally differentiated state, independent of consciousness, semantic interpretation, memory, or experience. More complex observers introduce additional capacities for retention, processing, interpretation, and experience, allowing continuity between successive realities through presently instantiated physical consequences of prior interactions. The framework further distinguishes observer-relative reality from objective correctness. While different observers may instantiate divergent realities based on physical variances, interactions and instantiated states, natural laws prevent these states from becoming arbitrary. Observers do not create natural laws, and subjective or algorithmic convergence can arise through reproducible interaction, shared physical constraints, and causal information propagation. In this sense, this framework provides a basis for algorithmic objectivity without requiring a single observer-independent representation of reality.
This paper reconstructs the concept of observation from first principles rather than treating it as a primitive notion. Starting from the existence of meaning, a unique structural dependency chain is derived: Meaning → Being → Subject → Other → Distinction → Comparison → Order → Time → Update → Self-Reference → Observation → Record → Synchronization → Information Each stage is proven to be a necessary prerequisite for every subsequent stage. Within this framework, observation is shown not to create or determine reality. Instead, reality must already exist before observation becomes possible. Observation is defined as a structural operation performed on an already existing reality. The paper further applies this structural derivation to the observer problem, Schrödinger's cat, Wigner's friend, and the double-slit experiment. It argues that the disappearance of interference should be interpreted as the consequence of changes in physical interaction together with the subsequent processes of recording and synchronization, rather than evidence that observation itself creates or modifies reality. This work provides a mathematical reconstruction of observation prior to information and proposes a unified structural framework for interpreting quantum measurement from more fundamental principles.
Zero Subjectivity Physics presents a foundations-level framework that removes subjectivity from the base ontology of physical theory while preserving the full operational role of observation. Modern physics successfully predicts what systems do, yet foundational discussions often reintroduce subjectivity—explicitly or implicitly—through observer primacy, awareness, or experiential assumptions. This paper argues that such moves are unnecessary and stem from an inherited anthropomorphic interpretation of observation rather than from physical necessity. In this framework, observation is treated as an operational regime: a physically instantiated pattern of constrained dynamics and information flow that can arise wherever certain stability, memory, self-reference, and latency conditions are satisfied. Observation is not owned by a subject, localized at a privileged vantage point, or endowed with intrinsic awareness. Like light, it is defined entirely by what it does, not by what it is. Duality and non-duality are reframed as observer-dependent descriptive modes applied to the same underlying physical processes, rather than as competing ontologies. Subjectivity, if it arises at all, is treated as a higher-level organizational feature of certain systems, not as a primitive ingredient of physical law. The framework is compatible with classical mechanics, relativity, quantum theory, decoherence-based measurement theory, and operational or relational approaches, while taking a stronger stance against any foundational role for subjectivity. By enforcing zero subjectivity at the base level, the paper clarifies the physics–philosophy boundary, dissolves persistent observer paradoxes, and constrains consciousness-first interpretations without denying the reality of observers as physical systems.
Abstract This paper proposes a conceptual information-theoretic framework in which observed physical reality is treated not as a direct presentation of the fundamental substrate, but as an observer-dependent representational domain generated through constrained decoding. The framework distinguishes between two address spaces: a non-metric, deterministic, discrete substrate-level domain (backend), and an observer-level domain (frontend) in which metric structure, temporal ordering, and object-level phenomenology appear. Within this model, photons are treated as the unique cross-domain encoding operator by which substrate state transitions become available to the observer interface. On this basis, several standard quantum-theoretical phenomena—including wave-particle duality, collapse, and nonlocal correlation—are reinterpreted as interface effects arising from representational limitation rather than as primitive properties of reality itself. The paper does not present a completed physical theory. Its purpose is to formulate a coherent philosophical architecture suitable for further formal development in the foundations of physics and theories of observation. The framework draws on and is consistent with the Ontological Resolution Theory (ORT) developed by the author in a series of companion papers. Keywords foundations of physics; philosophy of observation; information-theoretic ontology; photon encoding; observer-dependent reality; emergence of time; emergence of metric; quantum foundations; determinism
This research paper introduces the Observer–Observation Reality Framework (OORF), a conceptual model developed to analyze the relationship between reality, observers, information, and cosmic processes. The framework proposes that reality exists independently of observers, while observation functions as the mechanism through which information about physical states becomes detectable. In this model, the universe is interpreted as a dynamic system characterized by continuous change, temporary stability, and interdependent structures and processes. Information is not treated as a fundamentally independent entity but as a property emerging from physical states. Without observers or detection systems, reality may exist but remains epistemically silent, meaning that events occur without producing knowledge. Observation therefore transforms silent reality into interpretable information. The framework further suggests that structures in the universe are temporary configurations sustained and transformed by processes, while the universe itself functions as a network of interdependent relations rather than isolated objects. This perspective integrates philosophical reasoning with scientific interpretation to provide a process-based understanding of reality, change, and observation within the universe.
This paper develops an extension of Existential Realism, a philosophical framework that distinguishes existence (what concretely is in the present moment) from reality (the broader causal–structural domain that includes past events, causal relations, informational traces, and structured future possibilities that are real but not presently existent). We synthesize core ideas from the original Existential Realism framework—ontological emergence, entanglement, temporal asymmetry, dimensional collapse, and the notion of a “dimensionless source”—and push them into new conceptual terrain. Time is placed at the heart of ontology: the present moment is the locus of existence, continually generating new actuality from prior reality. Past and future are real (with causal efficacy and structure) yet lack present existence. We explore how this two-tiered temporal ontology can accommodate key features of modern physics and metaphysics. In particular, we argue that ontological emergence at each moment provides a genuine arrow of time and a solution to the puzzle of how determinate events arise from an indeterminate backdrop. Quantum entanglement and nonlocal correlations, far from undermining a temporally oriented realism, instead hint at a deeper layer of unity “beneath” spacetime—a layer we articulate as a dimensionless source of reality. The dimensionless source is defined as a non-spatiotemporal relational structure encoding the informational constraints under which spatiotemporal events emerge through sequential actualization. It contains the informational constraints and lawful relations governing the generation of successive present states of the universe. We propose that spacetime and its separations emerge from this atemporal, aspatial ground, such that phenomena like entanglement and wavefunction collapse reveal the traces of a more fundamental order where spatial distance and temporal succession are secondary. Throughout, we connect these ideas to contemporary debates in quantum foundations (e.g. the measurement problem and objective collapse theories), philosophy of time (presentism, eternalism, and the reality of becoming), and speculative metaphysics (structural realism and process ontology). The result is a comprehensive, present-centered realist ontology that aims to reconcile the lived reality of time’s flow with the insights of modern physics, suggesting new avenues for understanding causality, identity, and agency in a dynamic universe.
The Informational Observer proposes a unified informational framework in which perception, measurement, and experienced reality emerge from the compression and reconstruction processes performed by observers. Instead of treating reality as an external, fixed entity, the model defines reality as the intersection of informational invariants preserved across multiple independent observers. Each biological, artificial, or simulated observer applies a compression operator to the underlying informational field and reconstructs an internal model shaped by priors, limitations, and energetic constraints.This framework explains perceptual variability across species, hallucinations in artificial and biological systems, observer-dependent measurement, and stability of physical laws. The model integrates cognitive science, AI interpretability, quantum contextuality, and simulation theory into a single informational principle, expanding the author’s Informational State Dynamics (ISD) framework. It introduces a general mechanism capable of unifying cross-domain phenomena through informational transformations. This work introduces The Informational Observer, a theoretical framework describing perception, measurement, and reality as the result of informational transformations performed by observing systems. The observer is conceptualized not as a passive receiver of sensory input, but as a compression system that selectively reduces the informational field into internal representations and reconstructs coherent experiential states. The model formalizes this process through two operators: Cᵢ (Compression): reduction of the informational field Ψᵢ (Reconstruction): predictive reconstruction of the compressed state Reality is defined as the set of informational invariants found in the intersection of reconstructions produced by different observers: Reality = ⋂ Ψᵢ(Cᵢ(I₀)) This perspective unifies phenomena that traditionally belong to different scientific domains: perceptual variability (human, animal, artificial systems) hallucinations and confabulation sensory filtering and cognitive priors observer-dependent physics and measurement nested or simulated universes informational emergence of the “self” The Informational Observer extends the author’s Informational State Dynamics (ISD) model and provides a foundation for future research in AI interpretability, cognitive modeling, neuroscientific theory, and information-based physics.