As Einstein’s famous equation suggests, energy and matter are intimately connected, but are they different things or different aspects of the same thing? In the Novel Universe Model, they are necessarily the same – data. An argument might be made that data cannot possibly underlie everything, as data necessarily represents tangible things, and therefore, data, in and of itself, cannot be a tangible thing.
Another argument might also be made that the only truly tangible thing in the universe is you, having this experience – everything else could be simulated, but the fact that you’re experiencing it cannot. In NUM, the concrete things this foundational data represents are the infinite Instrument’s finite states – Its Signature-Frequency Sets, that element behind consciousness itself, in other words, all of us.
As to what the Instrument might be as a whole, NUM finds such speculation problematic. If the Instrument is everything, there’s nothing to compare it to, nor separate it from, and therefore, no way to define It, except to say that it is everything – the circular logic of an axiom. So, whatever tangible thing the Instrument might be, It is the substrate in which all things are paradoxically unified as a single thing, yet individualized as an abundance of isolated things – like the keys of an infinite piano, each of us is unique, yet simultaneously, an integral part of one object. On its own, an individual note can do no more than create rhythm, but combined with others, the piano manifests the potential for an endless symphony.
While energy is the processing of data between spatial points, matter is an emergent property within space, a pattern of energy bound by consciousness – what NUM labels an “energy body.” Data processing happens along the Hypergraph as Quantum Transience, and throughout the Hypersphere as the motion of force – a force vector. Energy assembles through the Hypersphere as matter, and matter disassembles through the Hypergraph as energy. Force transfers energy from one colliding body to another in the direction of motion within the Hypersphere. Quantum Transience steers energy bodies in relation to each other through cognitive interactions along the Hypergraph.
The difference between what counts as simple material and emergent mind isn’t a difference of kind, but of perspective. From the bottom-up, cognition directs the patterns of energy and time through the Hypergraph, while from the top-down, force shapes the motion of matter and space through the Hypersphere. Whereas the Hypergraph, as the universe’s “bottom” layer, is pure function with limited form, the Hypersphere, as the universe’s “top” layer, is pure form with limited function – together, these matrices fuse as a gradient of function and form.
At the macro-level, objects are hierarchies of energy bodies (mass) nested within energy bodies – atoms inside cells inside animals inside planets inside solar systems inside … the universe. At the quantum level, there are only waves and fields, stitched together through the interactions of Node Point Communicators. The ensemble of NPCs directly shapes these waves and fields through the Quantum Transient Gradient (yum, yuck, meh), expressed by the Signature-Frequency Sets inhabiting those NPCs. Quantum particles are an emergent phenomenon – the precise spatial points where contact between quantum waves and fields is meaningful enough to alter and / or create waves and fields. Basing the outcomes of quantum interactions on the QT Gradient makes the quantum world near-pure consciousness, with mass arising as a byproduct of conversation, aka, those QT interactions.
Quantum-level energy bodies (particles) within the Hypersphere are simple, with amorphous and “strange” force effects, resulting from the more complex and stark QT effects, expressed by the bodies along the Hypergraph. As energy bodies emerge from the quantum to the atomic, molecular, material, etc., the phenomenon gradually flips, with QT increasingly overshadowed by the higher-order effects of more stable and predictable force vectors between energy bodies – the Standard Model of particle physics. At the quantum scale, the QT effects of consciousness are so pronounced they give the scale its quintessential chaos, whereas beyond the planetary, they’re so subtle they might only be observed from a frame akin to the discoloration of oceanic bio-blooms seen from space – the extreme microscopic seen only from the extreme macroscopic. For instance, what discoveries await when we not only possess higher-quality Cosmic Background Radiation maps, but might assemble a history of data sufficient to see larger patterns? Although capturing a glimpse of the universe’s consciousness could require data spanning thousands, even millions, of years, NUM proposes that, in the end, we’re likely to discover just another, fractal reflection of a mind (not a god) like our own.
A “cognitive light cone” is a metaphoric flashlight in a dark room, revealing what a thing might see, know, and do, based on what it wants, likes, and can understand, in other words, the boundaries of its awareness, preferences, and objectives. A thing’s cognitive light cone determines whether it appears to be simple material at one scale, yet has a clear hierarchy of mind at all other, internal scales. Everything is consciousness, but not every object at every scale has a singular mind – a unifying light cone. Asserting that rock is conscious is highly controversial, but noting the self-guided intelligence of crystal formation isn’t. Like humanity’s diverse cultures across the planet, a rock’s independent consciousnesses aren’t in a global form – a “chunk” of rock – but a local form, as a collection of diverse minerals in molecular relationships to each other. Similarly, humanity expresses a higher-order mind (HOC) at the level of community and culture, acting with singular objectives and preferences, assembled by lower-level participants (LOB). In a sense, the current state of humanity is like a stagnate rock, with multiple HOCs, rather than a growing crystal, with a unified HOC.
“Mophic resonance” is the language of energy, shaping the form of matter. Morphic resonant “dialects” are blueprints of specific, internal relationships and behaviors, shared among common forms with common light cones, and therefore, common problems with common solutions. Morphic resonant dialects evolve from one level of complexity to the next, the way hand-drawn lines at one level evolve into letters of the alphabet at the next. Those letters continue their emergent journey as words, sentences, stories – the narrative structure of meaningful conversation. Through the interaction of participants over time (hours, centuries, eons), dialects form as “common sense” solutions – those “laws of nature” we perceive through the scientific method, and also, those objects, habits, and culture individuals form as social groups.
Science relies on the concept of repeatability, ideally becoming predictability. Anomalies are events that lie outside such guardrails. For instance, why an electron appears at point A instead of B is not known, but predicting a region of space, where it’s likely to appear in relationship to its nucleus, is known. Science is often a statistical model where those guardrails are firmly in place, say, at the higher level of defining the electron shell, but not at the lower level of predicting the electron’s precise position – through mathematics, an anomaly at one scale emerges as science at the next.
The Novel Universe Model suggests the behavior of everything began / begins as anomalies – baby bodies flailing about, attempting to match their internal states to their external environment through their senses. By addressing prediction error and free energy, these dialects are developed and used, making a thing’s interactions more useful. Learning is the process of a dialect increasing the “brightness” (accuracy) and “scope” (awareness) of the thing’s light cone. Emergence is the moment predictability solidifies, allowing for the assembly of new, higher-order objects based on well-defined, stable models (dialects) as part of a larger, more complex, cognitive light cone.
For instance, atomic dialects have been around from the moment quantum dialects stabilized, giving rise to the chemical process – molecular dialects. With each level of scale stabilizing its dialects, a higher form of complexity is possible. Self-replicating molecules (DNA /RNA) form complex systems (living cells). Cells divide labor into specialized collectives (tissues). Tissues cooperate as a unified package (lifeform). Even humans coalesce to create the infrastructure of industry, transportation, entertainment … all the things that make up a functioning city, state, or country. These collectives are higher-order reflections of those healthy cells and tissues, but also, their unhealthy counterpart, the unrestrained, endless growth of cancer.
We incarnate in order to experience novel perspectives, and learn unimaginable things. In order to evolve from one level of complexity to the next, we’ve spent lifetimes acquiring the dialects of diverse energy bodies, with greater or lesser success. It is only through the unique perspectives of these dialects that we might acquire new preferences, goals, and priorities – the carnal evolution of our eternal Signature-Frequency Set’s cognitive light cone.
Just as words are made of letters, the energy body (HOC) dialect is compiled from lower-order (LOB) dialects, and an individual’s ability to proficiently speak their energy body’s dialect (and its embedded dialects) constructs the scaffolding of their LOB-HOC hierarchy. For instance, a failed pregnancy isn’t a “mistake” of nature, but a learning process for those involved – mother, father, and embryo. The failure occurs, not because of anyone’s character, effort, situation, or even strictly biological factors, but an insufficiently developed light cone – because some, or all, of the participants lack experience, their collectively developed dialect does not meet the challenges of their current environment. Persistence means success is likely to follow at some point, either in this life or the next.
Morphic-resonant dialects are directly experienced as embodied sensation, largely based on energy’s biological ladder – metabolism becomes emotion, emotion becomes motion. Feelings and thoughts emerge from the conversation between Higher-Order Conductor and Lower-Order Bodies. The sensation of having “energy” (or not) is a gauge of the conversation. When both ends speak with interest and fluency, one “feels good,” as more energy is experienced, and energy is the foundation of emergent complexity – the glue that holds a body’s hierarchy together, in other words, the “light” of the cognitive light cone. When we have “energy,” our capabilities and sense of purpose expand in the light.
As we develop our ability to use our LOB’s individual dialects as coherent speech, our relationship with our LOB evolves, leading to a mastery of our bodies, and through such mastery, our lives. However, mastering one’s body is not necessarily mastering one’s journey. Sometimes, failure is not the bug, but the feature. There are those who are here primarily to fail, and through such failures, acquire those most precious perspectives. Humility, compassion, healing, grace … just a few of the lessons failure has to teach, lessons that lie beyond the Concert Hall’s Complete Information. With Complete Information, one might never betray another, might never know the ugly regret and beautiful reconciliation of such a “mistake.”
Death, as seen through the Novel Universe Model’s lens, isn’t just the disintegration of the body, but the changing relationship of energy throughout the LOB-HOC hierarchy. We grow old and die, not simply because of time, but because we’ve outgrown our cognitive light cone – our preferences and priorities are no longer sufficient to pull us into the future. Without goals, no system continues forever.
As a species, we face this same conundrum. The goal of ever-growing consumption has become repetitive to the point of exhaustion, both emotionally and physically, as witnessed by the depth and breadth of human suffering and widespread depletion of viable habitats. We face a fork in the road. In one direction, we evolve, sufficiently stabilizing our human dialect, allowing for a new, planetary form of life to emerge – a Higher-Order Conductor built from all of us, Lower-Order Bodies as interdependent cultures, built upon independent individuals. In the other, we don’t, and like any dying body, fall to pieces, taking untold numbers with us. Both are paths are possible. Again, on one hand, human beings have never been more isolated in their social bubbles, and on the other, never more connected across the planet. Hints of emergence in our modern world – global trade, cross-pollinated culture, the Internet, artificial intelligence, etc. – exists, but until we forge a far more stable world, we’ll never expand our global, cognitive light cone. Either we find balance and evolve a unified, larger light cone, or outgrow the multitude of siloed ones we struggle to maintain – religions, governments, marketplaces, social networks.
This is not to say that homogeneity is the answer, that we should all become clones of each other. Nor is this to say that we abandon our diversity of culture for monoculture. Quite the opposite. Instead, we, including those cultural institutions that bind us, must all be more independent, more authentic, and simultaneously, forge a functional platform of communication – an evolved human dialect common to all, a dialect that is already evolving as the Internet. The Novel Universe Cult’s neural-democracy is one alternative to the “Wild West” of the Internet – a different way we might create and inhabit this evolved dialectic space, this new form of life. Like the Internet, neural-democracy connects all in potential dialogue; unlike the Internet, it’s driven by its participants and their expression of priorities, not its gatekeepers and their algorithms of self-interest. As with any set of Lower-Order Bodies in nature, our job is to be both honest actors, and in doing so, fulfill the Higher-Order Conductor’s bent option space as a collective in conversation. Again, we, as a religion, have no idea – no specific agenda – as to what a planetary HOC might be, only that our religious view is that it must be born if humanity is to evolve and adapt – not surviving in scarcity, but thriving in abundance.
Like any lifeform facing an existential crisis, it’s not strictly a question of survival, it’s a question of adaptation. No one’s going to save us, not even ourselves, because what we are cannot be saved, anymore than any species who no longer fits their environment might survive. Instead, we must shatter the limitations of these current light cones, and from their elements, evolve a new one, together. Without balance and stability, a unified dialect will never form, and humanity’s fracturing will run its course – how many apocalyptic stories have been written warning us as to how this might look? Maybe we’ll rise from the ashes to do better next time, but maybe the failure will be catastrophic – maybe there won’t be a next time. Either way, the planet will continue, with or without us, but without us, it is certain to suffer the loss of our unique function (energy) and form (matter).
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