A structural theory of everything

TL;DR

This paper proposes a comprehensive 'theory of everything' based on Barad's Agential Realism, linking quantum mechanics, self-organization, and human cognition to explain the origin and evolution of life and consciousness.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integration of agential realism with self-organization models to form a unified framework for understanding physical phenomena and human capacities.

Findings

Agential realism can be grounded in hypercycle models of self-organization.

Physical phenomena can emerge from acts of specification at a fundamental level.

The theory potentially explains the origin of life and human cognitive abilities.

Abstract

In this paper it is argued that Barad's Agential Realism, an approach to quantum mechanics originating in the philosophy of Niels Bohr, can be the basis of a 'theory of everything' consistent with a proposal of Wheeler that observer-participancy is the foundation of everything. On the one hand, agential realism can be grounded in models of self-organisation such as the hypercycles of Eigen, while on the other agential realism, by virtue of the 'discursive practices' that constitute one aspect of the theory, implies the possibility of the generation of physical phenomena through acts of specification originating at a more fundamental level. Included in phenomena that may be generated by such a mechanism are the origin and evolution of life, and human capacities such as mathematical and musical intuition.