TFNR - About this work

Origin

Describing the origin of this work is no simple task. It all stems from a profound interest in knowledge, science, philosophy, humanism, and countless other subjects. A deep curiosity about Reality as a whole, accompanied by a passion - particularly for physics and cosmology - fueled by amazement at the infinite complexities of Nature that surround us and fill us with wonder.

A wealth of observation, reading, studying, pondering, conducting thought experiments, and cultivating a strong interest in knowledge management and organization, as well as traditional knowledge systems, philosophies, religions, and esoteric schools.

An inclination towards syncretism and cultural contamination, driven by the desire to extract the essential knowledge required to explain the world and its governing laws, and to distill valuable insights for understanding the functioning and evolution of Reality. Reality - the whole - the Universe in its perpetual Evolution.

Aims and intentions

The primary goal of this work is to construct a new System of Knowledge - a reference framework capable of encompassing both traditional and modern knowledge, integrating philosophical and scientific contributions into a unified vision. This framework aspires to guide us toward a broader and deeper understanding of Reality.

A stimulus to inspire a different way of observing the world, to value aspects we have either overlooked or failed to recognize entirely.

I hope that this work will contribute to:

• providing a broader and deeper perspective on Reality and its functioning
• formulating new hypotheses about the fundamental aspects of Reality
• sparking new lines of research, both theoretical and experimental
• redirecting scientific exploration toward the fundamental questions with a more innovative and productive approach: less mathematics, more ideas! Nothing against math - but its dominance has become excessive. Ideas first!

Scope of work

The scope of this research is Reality as a unity, encompassing both of its domains that we can ideally distinguish: the physical and the cognitive.

In this paper, I have concentrated on Physical Reality - from the infinitely small, the realm explored by physics, to the infinitely large, the perspective of cosmology, the Universe in evolution.

In a future work, I will turn my focus to the cognitive aspect of Reality: perceptions, sensations, emotions, thoughts, logic, cognitive models and systems, and so forth - the objects of cognitive activity in living beings and automata (such as software-based artificial agents, AI, etc.). This domain represents the manifold of Reality's representations and its intricate relationship with its physical substrate / counterpart.

Development

This research, driven by curiosity to know and by dissatisfaction with most of the common explanations provided by academic science, has developed over a long period of time starting from some particular ideas:

• the need to shift attention away from particles (discrete structures) to something more fundamental (a universal continuous field in which discreteness emerges due to physical evolution - discreteness arises from continuity due to an evolutive process),
• the need to overcome the consolidated atomic models, such as that assumed in quantum mechanics,
• the need to find a different, deeper meaning for terms like space, time, mass, motion, charge and spin and the related phenomena in terms of something more fundamental,
• the will to redefine concepts like nothingness, emptiness and vacuum, and to explore a world in which the speed of light (the speed of propagation of Causality, Action, Information) in the most elementary field, while representing the limiting speed, is not a constant, but depends on the organization, the structure of the Field itself, and the fluctuations that represent its dynamics at the most fundamental level.

Not yet another attempt to create a TOE, a Theory of Everything, but an effort to build a broad framework that can accommodate, hold and integrate:

• new ideas alongside consolidated theories, perhaps suitably revised and expanded,
• a new definition of Reality (beyond both quantum and classical / relativistic realism) and of what can be considered real: real is everything has existed, exists, can exist or exists as a possibility. Everything is real, but for clarity and to avoid dangerous misunderstandings, it is necessary to distinguish what is physically real from what is cognitively real. Physically real is that which had, has, or can have a physical existence, as a less or more complex organization of / in the Elementary Field and all derived physical fields under the Action of the Fundamental Force and all related derived physical forces. Cognitively real is everything else (the perceived and the perceivable; thought / thinkable; imagined / imaginable; past, present and future; factually and / or logically true or false, what is real according to the general definition above, net of what is real in the physical sense),
• a decisive revision of the language and terminology used to describe Reality, revising key terms such as Source, Force, Field, Creation, Existence, Event, Action, Evolution, Essence / Form, Relation, Information, Energy, Structures, Waves, Particles, Interactions, Forms, Universe,
• a coherent Ontology, Phenomenology and Dynamics of Reality, with coherent and logically consistent definitions of the respective objects of study: Entities (Sources / Forces and Fields couples), Events and Relations, Processes,
• fundamental principles, which, while expressing themselves in infinite different ways at different Levels of Reality, represent its fundamental functional unit,
• a formative (creative and evolutionary) Source (the Fundamental Force / Elementary Field couple), which manifests itself in a cascade of Derived Sources that operate by creating Events and Relations to form all the physical and cognitive Processes that incessantly shape (give form to) the infinite Complexity of Reality,
• a causal and variational (Space-time) structure, expression of the two aspects of the Source - the Force (Cause) and the Field (Variation), central pillar of the Process of Formation of Reality,
• a multilayered structure of Reality, from the fundamental, the elementary, the Primary Source of Reality, up to the Forms, the entire Universe in Evolution, through the Action (the layer of Events, of the temporal distributions of the tiny spatial fluctuations of the Elementary Field up to the fluctuations of the complex fields and the related forces that we observe at work in Nature), the Information / Energy (the level of Relations between Events, from correlations between the distributions of the fluctuations of / in the Elementary Field up to the correlations of the distributions of complex fields fluctuations and related forces), and the layer of the related Structures of Information (the layer of Processes of Events organized by Relations representing the Structures of Ordinary Matter and Energy - Waves, Vortices / Particles and their Interactions - and again the Structures of Dark Matter and Energy - Gravitational Waves, Vortices / Halos of Dark Matter / Dark Energy that make up the cosmic web).

Precisely the multilayered structure of Reality, with functional levels characterized by greater causal and variational Complexity, which evolutionarily emerge from more elementary levels, in an incessant and infinite Process of Formation, together with the coexistence of continuity and discreteness (discrete structures, such as Waves and Particles, which emerge from, act, propagate, interact in continuous fields), and the evolutionary coexistence and nuanced superposition of different forms of Causality (from quantum uncertainty to the deterministic certainty of the classical physical world, up to the emergent finality in the cognitive functions of living beings) represent great difficulties in the search for a unitary and integrated description of natural phenomena, for a final, all-encompassing equation capable of describing all the interactions that constitute all the phenomenological Reality.

The very search for such a "global / universal" equation denotes a partial and reductionist vision of Reality, a lack of a synthesizing vision capable of embracing the infinite complexity of Nature. This complexity includes not only quantum fields and what we call the fundamental forces of Nature but also the turbulent dynamics of fields at the Planck scale, often regarded almost as a nuisance complicating the already intricate calculations of the equations of QFT - the Quantum Field Theory. Added to this are the countless complexities arising from cosmic evolution, biological evolution (so profoundly influenced by the former), and finally the cognitive explosion, which is barely reducible to the dynamics of physical interactions - a mysterious interplay between quantum uncertainty, classical determinism, and finality oriented towards the causal permanence of living entities.

Reality is so multilayered and complex, even at what we believe are its most fundamental levels. It is difficult to achieve unity in multiplicity, to arrive at a synthesis within a world dominated by analysis.

This endeavor requires the adoption of a systemic method, well-structured yet challenging, capable of balancing synthesis and analysis, holism and reductionism, humanism and scientism. It necessitates a research approach that is complex and delicate, simultaneously attentive to both details and the overarching vision. Such an approach must be aware of the need for the scientific method's rigor and the falsifiability of theories, while also recognizing the importance of opening up spaces for ideation and creative imagination that can embrace immensely distant dimensions and complexities. This imagination cannot be unlimited, but must constantly be confronted with observations, experimental results, and a general "sense of plausibility."

Ideas / Hypotheses / Proposals

In the Introduction, I listed and briefly commented on what I believe are the "Very Important Hypotheses About Reality," which I then sought to develop in the subsequent chapters of this work. After all the insights, details, and examples provided, let us now, in conclusion, return to those initial themes and attempt here to summarize some of the most significant ideas, hypotheses, and proposals presented in this paper - key aspects that play a central role in this System of Knowledge. Unconventional concepts, alongside more common and established ideas, revisited and recontextualized, together with the overall structure of this theoretical framework, may, I hope, inspire research in directions capable of transcending the current crisis / impasse in physics and cosmology, fostering a broader and deeper Knowledge of Reality:

• Reality as a whole - a unitarian Process, the One, a unity: a Process that originates from the Source and unfolds into the evolving Universe, through Action, Information, and Form.

• Reality as the result of that same process - the Process of Formation: a unitary Process that manifests itself through two complementary sub-processes: Creation (the production of Events, Action, Existence) and Evolution (the production of Relations, Information, Essence / Form).

• Reality is incessantly created and re-created in a continuous "flow of Time" - or rather, a flow of Events (not in the sense of an absolute Time that marks the Events, but as a relative Time: a sort of universal causal interaction among all the proper Times of all the point-events of the Elementary Field, which we represent as the infinite, eternal, and unlimited Space-time, complete with its relative dynamical Metric).

• Everything is "Entities that produce Events organized by Relations in Processes: in other words, Sources (Force / Field pairs) that generate Action that takes a Form as Information, which manifests as Structures of Information, leading to the incessantly evolving Forms that constitute the Universe - the entirety of Reality.

• Everything is relative: everything that exists is relative - there are no absolute dimensions, no absolute Space, and no absolute Time as understood in classical physics. However, there exists - though relative to the fundamental dynamics of the Elementary Field - a dimension deeper than what is characterized by current physical theories and models. A universal dimension, or one local to large regions of Space-time, which is, in some form and measure, quite independent of the dimensions of the event-points within the Field. A broader dimension that we can call "environmental", which, compared to the contingent, ever-changing, and relative dimensions of the dynamics of individual event-points, exhibits characteristics of greater "absoluteness," even if not in the sense of classical concepts.

• Everything evolves: everything evolves - even the Source, the absolute, the unitary primary entity - which manifests itself as a pair of complementary sub-entities: the Fundamental Force and the Elementary Field. From their inner interaction, everything is created and evolves. The same expressions of the Agency of the Source - Causality, the expression of the Force, and Variationality (Spaciality and Temporality), the expression of the Field - also evolve.

• Reality has / is a multilayered existential and evolutive structure: the identification of a fundamental or elementary level of Reality - a direct emanation / manifestation of the Primary Source of Reality and its fundamental dynamics, produced by the Action of the Force on the Field.

• The same structure of Reality evolves: from "Nothingness" to "Emptiness" to "Somethingness," always within its "Wholeness".

• Central role of Relation, or better "correlation," in the organization of Reality: Relation is the foundation of Information, as correlations among the distributions of fluctuations of / within the Elementary Field at the Planck scale represent the most elementary form of Energy - the most elementary form or fundamental expression of Physical Information.

• Everything is Information, or its elementary physical form, Energy: In-Form-Action, Action with a Form, the Form of Action... the Time derivative of Action. At the most elementary level of Reality, this represents the organizational scheme (Process) of the correlations (Relations) between the temporal distributions of elementary spatial fluctuations (Events) within the Elementary Field, resonating around the Planck scale. These fluctuations are produced by the Action of the Fundamental Force - Force and Field being the two aspects of the Source of Reality (Entity). Information incessantly strives for causal permanence, driving its expansion into the fundamental dimensions of Reality: Cause, Space, and Time.

• Speed of Light: a limit, not a constant: no absolute velocity for the propagation of Causality, Action, Information. It reflects the unique dynamics of the Elementary Field, which generates the fundamental Processes that incessantly form and give shape to Reality.

• Space-time metric curvature in facts is "Time curvature": in a context of a non constant speed of light, space-time curvature must be intended as time curvature, or better, Time contraction / dilation. Space curvature is only apparent, due to Time curvature and non constant speed of light

• Space-time metric curvature is, in fact, "Time curvature": in a context of a non-constant speed of light, Space-time curvature should be understood as Time curvature - or more precisely, as Time contraction and dilation. Space curvature is merely apparent, stemming from Time curvature and the non-constant speed of light. The fluctuations of spatial distances, which form the basis for the ceaseless Creation of Existence in its most elementary form, lose their effects a few orders of magnitude beyond the Planck scale. At the dimensional scales of particles and extending to the infinite and boundless Universe, Space remains absolutely flat. The microscopic fluctuations, representing the Elementary Events - whose inhomogeneous temporal distributions constitute the Elementary Action, the fundamental "substance" upon which everything is built - average out and interpenetrate each other. As a result, the Spatial Metric remains perfectly flat at all larger scales.

• Space-time Metric curvature and Mass are the same thing / phenomenon: a key aspect of the Principle of General Equivalence. Both are different perspectives on the same fundamental component of Elementary Action: "Perturbation" - the correlation of the temporal distributions of the intensities of spatial fluctuations of the Elementary Field. This can be represented through various properties and behaviors, such as the temperature of the Elementary Field, the speed limit for the propagation of Causality / Action / Information within the Field, the Mass density, and/or the curvature of the Space-time Metric.

• Metric / Mass, Motion, Charge and Spin: the Fundamental Physical Quantities, as fundamental manifestations of the correlations in the dynamics of the Elementary Field and the Elementary Action and its Modes / Components - Perturbation, Translation, and Rotation (in the sub-modes Chirality and Axis Orientation).

• Gravitational attraction / repulsion and Acceleration have the same nature: another aspect of the Principle of General Equivalence. Both are different perspectives on the same fundamental Mode / Component of Elementary Action: "Translation" - the correlation of the orientations of the elementary spatial fluctuations of the points-event of the Elementary Field. Translation produces by gradients in Perturbation.

• Weak and strong nuclear forces / fields and related phenomena as derived / complex (not elementary) phenomena: combinations of the more fundamental physical quantities (sources - the Force / Field pairs): Metric / Mass, Motion, Charge, Spin. These are Derived Forces and Fields relative to the Structures of Information within the Elementary Field, not Forces / Fields directly related to the Elementary Field itself. This is a subtle but crucial distinction.

• The conservation of both linear and angular, extrinsic or intrinsic (Spin) momentum is an absolute and ubiquitous principle: in other terms, the conservation of Elementary Action in its Modes Components is a fundamental property of Reality and the Dynamics of Elementary Action.

• The conservation principle / property (conservation of inhomogeneities) is always in competition with a dynamic principle / property that tends to recover homogeneity: similarly, the conservation principle / property (conservation of homogeneity) is always in competition with a dynamic principle / property that tends to produce inhomogeneities. The Uncertainty Principle describes the production of Perturbation (creation of Elementary Action, through Variation, inhomogeneity of / in the Field). The Action and Reaction Principle describes the production of Translation (propagation of Elementary Action of / in the Field). And the Principle of Minimum Action, the production of Rotation (conservation of Elementary Action of / in the Field).

• Energy and Matter, both dark and visible/ordinary: these are different forms of Information, the temporal derivative of Action (where Action is a more fundamental and complete physical quantity than Information or Energy).

• From continuity (Fields) to discreetness (Structures of Information, organized parts within / of the Fields): patterns of correlations (Elementary Relations) between the temporal distributions of tiny elementary spatial fluctuations (Elementary Events) of the Elementary Field, resonating around the Planck Scale.

• Current models / representations of elementary particles are excessively confusing and lead to misunderstanding: sometimes they are described as points with no spatial extent, other times as clouds of energy, waves, or even as more abstract entities like probability functions. We need a clear and stable representation of elementary particles rooted in the dynamics of the Elementary Action and its Modes / Components - or, equivalently, in the organization of the correlations (Information) between the inhomogeneities of the temporal distributions (Elementary Action) of infinitesimal spatial fluctuations (Elementary Events) of / within the Elementary Field.

• Current models / representations of atoms are incorrect and misleading: electron orbitals are not (or, not only) wavefunctions describing the probability of finding an electron in a given region of the volume of space within an atom. Rather, orbitals are the electrons themselves (electrons possess a changing spatial extent, volume, and shape, depending on their motion and interactions with the physical environment - the local structure of the Elementary Field and surrounding structures, particles, and waves). Orbitals are functions that describe which part of the electron's spatial extent is contained within a given volume of Space in the atom, and where, at a given instant, its centers of Mass and Charge are located, and what are the orientations of the direction of Motion and of the axis of Spin and the intensity of the Action in those directions (linear and angular momentum).

• A new hypothesis about the wave-particle duality: the key lies in the nature and form of what we call "wave" and "particle" ("Structures of Information" in this system of knowledge: Waves, Vortices, and their Interactions) in terms of something more fundamental - the dynamics of the Elementary Action and its Modes / Components. This fundamental nature is shared, in various ways, by all types of Structures of Information.

• No particle - low density - diffuse Dark Matter: Dark Matter as a different kind of substance. It represents a sort of middle ground between "Particle Dark Matter" and "MOND - Modified Newtonian Dynamics." Middle ground in the sense of explanatory power, combining the seemingly contradictory aspects of a "substance" on one side and a "strange, seemingly anomalous behavior of Space-time itself" on the other. However, this is not in terms of the nature of the entities and phenomena involved. In this System of Knowledge, Dark Matter is hypothesized as a completely different substance than those proposed within the scientific field: diffuse, low-density, non-particle Vortex InfoStructures, in the form of turbulent halos / bubbles that organize (or reflect the organization of) the Elementary Field.

• No big-bang and inflation: we need an alternative cosmological model to explain the Universe as we observe it - its objects, structures, and dynamics. The evidence supporting the Standard Cosmological Model (ΛCDM Model) is too weak to withstand the pressure of emerging discrepancies in new astronomical observations and in the measurements of the fundamental quantities that parameterize this models.

• Many other ideas, hypotheses, and proposals that help shape a different physics and cosmology.

Many of these ideas can be profitably and clearly represented by schemes: such as the Process of Formation of Reality and related schemes of the Formation of Physical and Cognitive Reality. Additionally, frameworks like the outline of Evolutionary Dynamics can also be effectively represented.

If even just one of the hypotheses and proposals illustrated in this work proves helpful in advancing scientific research and useful for achieving a better understanding of the Fundamental Nature of Reality, I will be immensely happy - and confident that it will have all been worth it.

Sources

This work is not entirely my own. It is the result of extensive elaboration, involving years of reading (books, papers, articles, etc.), reflection, conceptualization, and reworking of a vast amount of material - some of which I may not even be consciously aware of.

In addition to incorporating some original concepts, schemes, and visions, much of the material used in the construction of this new System of Knowledge involves numerous reinterpretations and adaptations of ideas, concepts, and frameworks from both traditional knowledge and modern science.

Some examples:

• The conceptual scheme that I call the Process of Formation of Reality is a derivation / reworking of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, a diagram - abstract and symbolic - made up of ten Sephiroth: ten archetypal attributes or characteristics of God (which we can imagine as operative Agents, the Operators of Reality in the System of Evolutionary Knowledge which is the object of this paper, emanation, characterization of the Fundamental Force - the active aspect of the Source of Reality).
  Another very important concept of the Kabbalah is "Ein Sof", the energy of the Universe (which we can imagine as the Elementary Action produced by the Primary Source of Reality, the Fundamental Force / Elementary Field pair, a fundamental / elementary entity that transcends the concepts of Space and Time, Energy, Mass, Motion, Charge, Spin, and all the derived physical quantities). The Elementary Action and the Source, comparable to the concept of Ein Sof, are unknowable and not directly contactable by human reason / mind, as they are expressed at a more fundamental level of Reality than that of Information, Structures of Information, and Forms - of which we are made and which represent the tools and vectors allowing our interaction with the physical environment in which we are immersed and of which we are a part.
  We are Information (and, in its most basic form, Energy), and it is Information / Energy that we can perceive, observe, and measure. The level of the Source - the Force / Field pair that, through their interaction, produces Elementary Events - and the level of the Elementary Action in its Modes / Components are precluded to us. Perception, observation, and measurement are forms of interaction entirely based on "Relation", on Relations. Everything that, from the causal point of view, lies beyond the expression of the Operator of Reality we call Relation is precluded to us and will remain directly unknowable. Only indirectly can we construct an approximate representation of it, observing its effects on the levels of Reality closest to us. In more "physical" terms, we cannot observe the event points at the Space-time dimensions resonating on the Planck scale, with their probability distributions and their dynamics / interactions forming increasingly extensive and complex structures of correlation - up to the Waves and Vortices / Particles that constitute Ordinary (visible) Matter we are made of, as well as the Dark (invisible) Matter that forms the immense, impalpable structures in which we are immersed and of which we are a part.
  The contraction and expansion of God's energy in Kabbalah mirrors the contraction and expansion of infinitesimal volumes of the Elementary Field, or what in the Evolutionary Knowledge System we call Elementary Events: the elementary fluctuations of the Field resonating around the Planck scale, slight variations in the mean and variance of their stochastic distributions, and their power spectra - these produce Perturbation, the inhomogeneities from which everything originates, leading to the entirety of the Universe through an incessant Evolution.
  That same idea of contraction and expansion has permeated Western culture for centuries, inspiring the Big Bang theory. Unfortunately, the theory transposed this important cultural influence incorrectly. It is not a one-off expansion / contraction, nor is it repeated over time at each cyclical expansion / contraction phase of the entire Universe, its parts, or multiple separate Universes, as posited by various derivative theories of the Big Bang. Instead, it can describe the infinite (in Space and Time) incessant expansions / contractions of each point event of the Elementary Field resonating around the Planck scale, under the continuous pressure of the Fundamental Force, creating what is now called "Quantum fluctuations of the vacuum," the quantum vacuum, etc. - the primary manifestation of the Principle of Uncertainty.
  From the Kabbalah - one of the main and most powerful traditional Systems of Knowledge of the West - and from the vital cultural, religious, and philosophical sources that have fueled its development, many other important ideas have arisen. These ideas have been translated into fascinating hypotheses concerning the general structure and dynamics of Reality, the aspects and Operators (the causal agents, the functional forces), the relationships between them, and their profound determination of the Formation of Reality in the mechanics of Creation "and" Evolution. They delve into the general properties of Reality and the specific properties present at various levels of Existence.
  The work undertaken can be seen as a translation from the Kabbalistic mystique of Formation to what, in this System of Knowledge under construction, I have called "Evolutionary Dynamics" and the "Process of Formation of Reality".

• The idea / hypothesis of the Source: a unity with two complementary aspects - the Fundamental Force and the Elementary Field, from whose inner interaction the Evolving Whole is incessantly Created, arises from my interest in Taoism. In my opinion, Taoism is the most wonderful representation of how Reality is made and works - certainly one of the deepest wells of knowledge in the East.

• The idea that the Source is both transcendent (Agent / Acting, the subjects of Creation, the causal and the variational principle, respectively) and immanent (Action and all that arises from its evolution - the complete Manifestation) comes from Kashmir Shaivism.
  The ancient texts that have come down to us - created in the languages used during those remote times, often poetic, strange, and fantastic in expression, so far removed from our current ways of reasoning and articulating - are the result of successive oral traditions, infinite transcriptions, and translations, often by individuals who lacked an understanding of the true meaning of those texts, expressions, images, and terms. Such texts often seem incomprehensible or unclear, with meanings that appear distorted and misleading, as though the authors deliberately sought to obscure the most authentic and profound significance.
  Yet, despite all this, with careful reading and guided by a sound understanding of the structure of Reality, it becomes possible to recognize the depth and lucidity that inspired these texts, reconstructing their logic and uncovering their authentic meaning.
  This process, of course, would likely horrify the most intransigent exegetes, philologists, and palaeographers. But for a "knowledge hunter" like me - forever pursuing information on the Fundamental Nature of Reality - it is of critical importance. It has allowed me to discover genuine pearls hidden within poetic images, mythological figures, religious doctrines, mystical traditions, mistranslations, mangled terms, and more.

• The hypothesis of the inconstancy of the Speed of Light (or rather its variability in Space and/or Time, depending on various factors and dynamic aspects), an idea proposed by some scientists who have, at various times, expressed themselves in this direction or referenced it in their works, has recently sparked a movement / interest among certain researchers exploring this concept.

• The idea of the coexistence of Creation and Evolution as two aspects of the unitary Formation of Reality comes from Hinduism and Buddhism. Evolution can be understood as a complex form of Creation, just as Creation can be viewed as an elementary form of Evolution.

• The idea of the incessant Action of a universal Force that creates Reality and drives its Evolution originates from Taoism and Hinduism. This notion stands in stark contrast to today's theory of the Big Bang and Inflation - essentially a one-shot creation event followed by a long evolution driven by the expression of that initial energetic occurrence. It can be seen as a more evolved, yet still insufficient, version of the old deterministic idea of a clock wound up at the beginning of Time, running inexorably until it halts completely at the end of time - such as in the heat death of the Universe.

• The idea that, on a universal level, what is called the Second Law of Thermodynamics - although a fundamental principle - does not represent the prevailing process that governs the Formation of Reality comes from the Theory of Evolution and from many ancient philosophies and religions. These traditions propose cosmogonic models of evolution, starting from a more elementary level - from chaos - towards increasingly complex, organized levels (chaos / order processes), from the undifferentiated unity to the differentiated multitude, from the formless to the forms.
  The Second Law (a law relating to heat and energy, implying an increase in the combined entropy of the system and its environment, the irreversibility of natural processes, and the existence of an arrow of time) represents a "destructive" principle - one that entails the destruction of information and complexity, moving from order to chaos. However, in the Universe as a whole, we observe a ceaseless evolution towards greater complexity, transitioning from chaos to higher levels of organization. Chaos and order, in this context, represent the two extremes of the scale of complexity and organization of Information - of which Physical Energy is its most basic form. Destructive / transformative processes, oriented toward less ordered / more chaotic levels, (Second Law) are more than balanced by constructive / organizing processes, oriented toward less chaotic / more ordered levels.
  In this System of Knowledge, the principle embodying the Second Law is identified with the Operational Agent "Transformation", one of the three Operators of Reality that constitute the Cycle of Information - the true "evolutionary engine" of Reality. If, however, the Second Law of Thermodynamics - a "destructive principle" (in the sense of destroying complexity, organization, acting as a functional operator that disrupts Relations at all levels of Reality, moving from more complex Information to its more basic forms, from order to chaos) - were the dominant process of Reality, nothing would exist in the Universe. No Information or Complexity could form and persist. Nothing would have been created or evolved - or, even if a deity had magically created the present Universe, everything would rapidly dissolve into an absolutely homogeneous, fluctuating field. Instead, an opposing principle / force is incessantly at work in the Universe: one or more processes antagonistic to the Second Law - a "constructive principle". In this system, it is identified with the Operator of Reality called "Organization," another functional aspect of the Cycle of Information.

• The idea that the Universe is infinite in Space (without limits) and in Time (eternal - without beginning and without end) originates in Hinduism and many other traditional knowledge systems. These traditions propose images of Reality without beginning and without end. "Without beginning" is not meant in the sense proposed by the Big Bang theory, where Time appears to begin with the birth of the Universe (although recent versions raise the possibility that the Big Bang was not the true beginning) and is generally imagined as eternal in the future - a Universe with a finite age. Instead, these traditional knowledge systems, along with the model proposed here, describe a Reality that is genuinely without beginning and without end.

Other purposes

This study also aims to serve as a manifesto against reductionism - or more precisely, against absolute reductionism, which, while enabling science to achieve extraordinary results, has ultimately led it down numerous dead ends and into crises that are increasingly severe and difficult to resolve. At the same time, it stands as a manifesto against a certain "imaginative science" that indulges in fanciful flights into absurd and improbable, untestable theories - entangled in mathematical abstraction - perpetually pursuing new particles, multiverses, unicorns, and countless other speculative constructs.

The reductionist approach, an intensified expression of the incredible analytical prowess of the human mind, is akin to a drill capable of reaching remarkable depths yet perpetually at risk of losing itself within those same depths. It requires guidance - an overarching vision capable of providing direction, purpose, and methodology. A "systemic" approach (I struggle to find a more suitable or commonly used term), offering a global perspective and embodying the marvelous synthetic power of the human mind, is essential. Alone, reductionism cannot lead us to a true, comprehensive understanding of the Fundamental Nature of Reality. Analysis and synthesis - the twin pillars underpinning the quest for knowledge - must work in concert, avoiding extremes, to prevent a descent into dead ends or superficial viewpoints.

Another motivation for undertaking this work is the profound sense of dissatisfaction I have often (and regrettably, very often) experienced when engaging with books, papers, scientific or popular articles, or videos, particularly those concerning physics and cosmology. These topics have captivated me since my youth, and the internet has granted me access to an immense repository of literature.

Although I have encountered much fascinating and passionate material, I am frequently left with the impression of narrow, fragmented, and incomplete perspectives, incapable of presenting an integrated and global perspective, a comprehensive overview. Not to mention the prevalence of bizarre, overly imaginative theories or sterile debates over seemingly crucial yet genuinely marginal or irrelevant issues - unfortunately concealing a profound ignorance. We must acknowledge that science has indeed made remarkable progress, but as of today, the unknown vastly outweighs the scant certainties we possess about the foundations. Additionally, theories and models that enjoy high esteem in academic communities often appear "unrealistic" when subjected to a broader, more general observation of Reality.

I have often felt "presumptuous" for daring to think differently - for having my own ideas, a distinct vision of the world - despite not being a scientist or possessing formal academic credentials. Yet, ultimately, my longing to encounter something that genuinely resonates with me, to find in the material I consume a sense of coherence and meaning, triumphed. This inspired me to write this paper, with the hope that it will prove useful and provide some satisfaction to others who, like me, feel discontented with what emerges from the current scientific literature. Writing this work has been an exhilarating journey and a substantial endeavor.

Links to the tables of contents of TFNR Paper

• Go to the contents list of the paper "The Fundamental Nature of Reality"

• Go to Chapter 2 "A first look"