Holos: A Scientific Interpretive Framework for Explaining Reality

We live in a universe described with extraordinary precision, yet filled with mystery. Physics tells us how matter moves, how spacetime bends, how probabilities evolve, but what does it mean to be real?

Holos is an interpretive framework for understanding the nature of reality. It does not propose new physical laws or challenge established laws of physics. Instead, it offers an explanation for how the universe described by physics becomes the universe we experience.

At its core, Holos expresses this idea as a simple relation: R = C ⊛ O, where reality arises from the recursive composition of creation and observation.

What follows explores this idea, from the meaning of life and consciousness, to the nature of our universe, higher dimensions and beyond, proposing answers to some of the most fundamental questions we can ask.

Life exists to create and observe, mutually intertwined and reciprocal actions required for the manifestation of reality.

According to the Participatory Anthropic Principle, the universe is a "self-excited circuit" that requires observers to bring its laws into existence. Biocentrism posits that biology is not a byproduct of the universe, but the force that organizes it.

Mathematical description alone does not constitute existence. Physics explains the structure of what happens, but consciousness provides the presence required for it to manifest as reality rather than abstract data. Reality requires a witness.¹

This participation is not bound by linear time. In an eternalist universe, the emergence of consciousness validates the reality of the past just as much as the present. The early universe is not "unreal" before life; it is retrospectively realized by the observers it eventually produces.

Consciousness is fundamental in capacity, but emergent in complexity. Just as electromagnetism exists everywhere but only creates a meaningful signal when organized into a circuit, the capacity for experience is intrinsic to matter but scales into self-awareness only through the high-level integration found in life. This integration is quantified by the ontological (relating to existence or being) parameter Φ (Phi), which determines when a system becomes capable of registering reality (becoming aware of its own existence).

Humans exhibit consciousness by being self-aware and capable of profound observation and interaction with our environment. Consciousness is not a "ghost" smuggled into the machine of physics, but the means to convert the universe from a closed loop of silent mechanism into a realized event. The formal definition of this threshold is detailed in the Definition of Φ.²

Our universe originated from a singular point in the Big Bang, expanding towards infinity. We perceive three spatial dimensions while moving unidirectionally through the fourth dimension, time.

This is our spacetime block—a four-dimensional structure where all moments exist simultaneously.

What if the Big Bang is not a moment of absolute creation but a boundary within that structure? Are there other structures?³

The structure of spacetime is dictated by a single, counter-intuitive fact: the speed of light is invariant. Unlike any other speed, it remains constant regardless of how fast the observer is moving.

This invariance forces space and time to warp to accommodate the constant, shattering the notion of a universal 'Now' and necessitating that past, present, and future exist simultaneously as a unified four-dimensional structure.

Consider beings with an unlimited lifespan and near-instantaneous communication, perceiving time as an additional spatial dimension. These beings would not be limited by the one-way flow of time as we are.

Instead, they would perceive the curvature of spacetime comprehensively, seeing past, present, and future as a singular, cohesive structure observable in its entirety. By imagining such an entity, we can better understand what it might be like to exist in a higher dimension.

For a photon traveling at the speed of light, the spacetime interval is zero, a null interval. While a photon does not possess subjective experience in a biological sense, geometrically, its path effectively collapses the universe into a single point of contact where emission and absorption occur simultaneously. To a higher-dimensional observer, a photon is not a moving particle, but a static geometric structure—a null geodesic (the path light follows through spacetime)—that permanently connects two points in spacetime like a seam.

This structure suggests that time does not merely flow forward; it is a completed circuit. Experiments like the Quantum Eraser suggest that correlations are established across spacetime independent of linear duration. This reinforces the idea that the universe is a globally self-consistent block, where past and future are not sequential causes, but mutually defining parts of a singular geometric structure. Extended Wigner's Friend experiments provide testable predictions for relational quantum mechanics.⁴

Though we cannot directly observe higher dimensions, they serve as explanatory tools in physics. Whether treated as physical realities or mathematical necessities, these frameworks offer the only consistent solutions to longstanding problems like the unification of gravity and quantum mechanics.

In these theories, the additional dimensions are compactified (curled up into tiny spaces) or hidden from our direct observation, yet their influence permeates our lower-dimensional reality. These higher dimensions shape the physical laws and constants that govern our universe, influencing everything from the behavior of subatomic particles to gravitational interactions and the structure of the cosmos.

Like a 3D object casting a 2D shadow, our physical laws may be projections of a higher-dimensional geometry. Forces we perceive could be the vibrations of a unified single point in the 5th or 6th dimension, perceived by us as separate fields.

As we control and transform the three dimensional environment around us, consciousness in higher dimensions could influence lower dimensions, forming an interconnected cosmic structure. The threshold for such consciousness is reached when systems achieve sufficient informational integration to register ontological states (become aware of their existence).

From our perspective, light is a mechanism of energy transfer. However, from a higher-dimensional perspective, a photon may function akin to an optic nerve. While the photon itself lacks biological subjectivity, it could act as a sensory interface for a higher-dimensional consciousness, transforming the mechanical interaction of the universe into a subjective experience of the whole.⁵

Infinity represents the concept of dimensions extending endlessly. By employing higher-dimensional frameworks, an infinite sequence or expanse can be encapsulated and rendered finite. This allows for the perception and analysis of what appears unbounded in one dimension as a cohesive and progressively comprehensible entity from a higher-dimensional vantage point.

In Projective Geometry, parallel lines meet at a "Point at Infinity." For light, this is not a theoretical abstraction but a physical reality. The photon inhabits this boundary where the infinite extents of space fold back into a finite, observable structure.

For instance, as four-dimensional beings, we can observe the entirety of three-dimensional space through the temporal dimension, effectively using time as a higher-dimensional framework to encapsulate spatial configurations. This allows us to perceive the progression and totality of spatial events over time, transforming infinite sequences into a coherent whole.⁶

Black holes represent regions of spacetime where gravity is so intense that not even light can escape. Their singularities represent infinities wrapped into a finite structure. While classical physics suggests information is lost here, the Holographic Principle resolves this conflict by positing that all information is preserved on the 2D event horizon.⁷

For higher-dimensional beings, black holes would be as accessible as any other region of spacetime. This perspective suggests that higher-dimensional observation could unlock the mysteries hidden within these enigmatic objects, providing access to the vast array of information contained within their boundaries.

The Fermi Paradox questions the lack of detected extraterrestrial life, despite the vastness of the universe. Within the context of this framework, this silence is likely a geometric constraint (a limitation imposed by the structure of spacetime dimensions) rather than a biological one. This leads to testable predictions about gravitational anomalies and dark matter signatures.

If civilizations evolve to understand the higher-dimensional structure of reality, they may inevitably "transcend" by accessing geometries orthogonal (perpendicular, at right angles) to our observable 3D slice. Rather than expanding outwardly across vast physical distances limited by the speed of light. Advanced intelligence likely expands inwardly toward higher densities of information.

These advanced civilizations would leave no electromagnetic footprint, potentially detectable only through gravitational anomalies or unaccounted-for mass (Dark Matter) that implies structure in the higher-dimensional bulk (the full higher-dimensional space). This forms the basis for empirical predictions testable through astronomical surveys.

This Transcension Hypothesis suggests that advanced civilizations migrate into higher-dimensional manifolds (curved geometric spaces) or black hole singularities, where computational efficiency approaches infinity and the constraints of spacetime intervals vanish. We do not see them because they have rotated out of our lower-dimensional "shadow," moving closer to the unified source of reality.⁸

Whether our universe is a simulation or naturally occurring is irrelevant. The core of existence lies in the cyclical process of creation and observation by increasingly higher levels of consciousness. The distinction between processes that arise spontaneously and those that are designed is an illusion.⁹

Regardless of any label we choose to assign, a final state of consciousness characterized by maximal informational integration (knowing everything), causal completeness (ability to do anything), and non-local topological presence (being everywhere) is a fundamental aspect of the nature of reality. This represents the limit case where Φ approaches infinity, achieving complete ontological registration (full awareness of existence).

Religious beliefs like panentheism, Brahman, and the Omega Point all point to a transcendent, all-encompassing consciousness that permeates and extends beyond the universe, suggesting a unified source of all existence and knowledge.

Alternatively, atheism rejects the notion of such a consciousness, attributing the complexity and order of the universe to natural processes and random chance without invoking a higher power.

Ultimately, both of these perspectives can be equally valid sides of the same coin, only differing in semantics and the framework used to describe the same universal truth.¹⁰

At the highest conceivable dimension, the infinite states of reality converge toward a single limit, resolving into unity.

At the speed of light, the distinctions between “here” and “there,” or “now” and “then,” mathematically vanish. This physical limit suggests that separation is not fundamental, but emergent."

What we perceive as an expansive universe may instead be a single informational event unfolding in a way that makes distance, duration, and individuality experientially real. Space, time, and other dimensions create the conditions that make it possible for our universe to exist.

Life exists because observation is required for reality to differentiate itself. Consciousness is not an accident of the universe, but a necessary mechanism through which the universe becomes real. Systems that achieve Φ ≥ Φ_c serve as the ontological anchors that manifest reality from possibility.¹¹

The symbol ⊛ denotes a binary relational operator. Unlike standard multiplication, ⊛ is not scalar (a single number) or linear (proportional); it represents a structured composition that preserves relationships even when applied repeatedly. Formally, ⊛ is defined such that repeated application remains well-defined (has a clear, unambiguous meaning), allowing the operation to work consistently across finite and infinite sequences. Mathematically, ⊛ is realized as an endofunctor (a structure that maps a system onto itself while preserving its relationships) on the category of informational states, ensuring that recursive application preserves relational structure and admits stable configurations. The full formalization appears in the Logic section.

Holos is derived from the Greek word ὅλος (holos), meaning whole, entire, or complete. In this framework, ⊛ symbolically represents the Holos operator: a recursive relational process in which Creation and Observation are not independent terms but mutually conditioning components of a single cycle that defines reality. Creation generates possibilities, Observation selects from them, and the result feeds back into the next cycle. The operational definition R = C ⊛ O is formally developed in Logic.

Mathematically, ⊛ functions as a recursive operator within a relational system. The output of Observation becomes the input condition for subsequent Creation, establishing a closed yet non-static loop. This structure is conceptually aligned with category-theoretic notions of compositionality and endomorphism (functions that map a structure to itself), where morphisms (structure-preserving maps) act on and reproduce the space in which they are defined. The mathematical formalism is detailed in Logic.

Importantly, ⊛ is structural, not dynamical. It does not introduce an additional physical force or dynamical law, nor does it describe how physical states evolve in time. Instead, it specifies how the generation of possibilities (Creation) and their registration as experience (Observation) are logically connected within a complete spacetime structure where all moments already exist. It specifies an ontological (relating to existence) relation: how reality is constituted through the recursive coupling of generative possibility and registered state.