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A Procedural Ontology of
Cognition and Realness In the
framework of Procedure Metaphysics, existence is not a static substance,
nor is it shaped by causal narratives imposed in hindsight. A thing is, to
the extent it emerges from the application of a procedure—of a rule, or set
of constraints, that generates what can be identified and experienced as
real. We begin
with the central statement: A fractal
emerges as output of a fractal generating procedure. This is
not a geometric observation, but an ontological claim. The fractal is not
merely a form; it is the differentiable elaboration of a rule applied under
constraint. Crucially, this iteration is not trivial repetition. Iterations
must be differential, since sameness is compressed out. Only difference makes
a difference. Redundancy
has no ontological weight. In the terms of information theory and
cybernetics, sameness contains no information—it is discarded by compression.
What remains, and what accumulates structure, is difference. Each iteration
must preserve or introduce distinction; otherwise, there is no output, no
elaboration, no structure. From
this, we draw a parallel to the Universal Turing Machine (UTM)—not as a mere
formalism, but as a constraint-driven generator of differentiability. Hence the
Universal Turing Machine, a set of rules (more precisely stated, constraints)
that order an unending stream of random events into logic, hence cognizable
sequences as outputs, functions as a fractal elaboration emerging procedure. The UTM is
indifferent to the physical nature of input (and indeed of output too).
Whether the stream is truly random or structurally opaque is irrelevant. From
the viewpoint of Procedure Metaphysics, what cannot be differentiated,
named, or identified does not exist—not as a metaphysical claim, but as an
epistemological necessity. If a
UTM’s output is not cognizable—it does not exist. The
objection that UTMs are deterministic misses the point. The relevant
condition is cognizability: if no pattern can be
identified, then the output is ontologically null. Likewise, the claim that
UTMs do not inherently produce fractal-like outputs ignores the definitional
framing: fractal elaboration is the outcome of constrained differentiation,
not of geometric form. Wherever rules produce elaborated, differentiable
patterns, a fractal structure emerges. This
leads to a fundamental requirement: Logic
must output fractally to permit both identification and the experience of
realness. To
identify is to engage repeated difference under rule. To experience realness
is to encounter elaborated constraint that has reached a threshold of
differentiability. In this view, realness is not absolute but emerges from
the internal consistency and intensity of constraint-based elaboration. Identity and Realness as Collision Traces In Procedure
Metaphysics, realness happens as response to quanta (meaning fractals)
collision @c² in a relativity vacuum. This is not metaphor—it is the
condition under which unstructured potential becomes actual. When constraint,
acting through rule, differentiates sufficiently to induce a quantal
event-collision—at relativistic intensity c2c^2c2—a threshold is crossed:
that which was previously undifferentiated becomes identifiable. This is
realness—not substance, but the emergence of response through irreducible
contact. Realness
is not the presence of substance but the emergence of response: a singularity
of differentiable contact. Identity
happens as a series (or trace) of such collisions. This
marks a deeper ontological insight: identity is not a given, nor a persistent
object, but a trace—a memory of iterative, high-intensity contact events.
Each collision at c2c^2c2 leaves a differentiable imprint, a recognizable
structure in the unfolding sequence of elaboration. Identity is thus serial,
recursive, and intrinsically quantal—it is what remains identifiable across
multiple elaborated collisions. The
Universal Turing Machine, in this framing, is not a metaphor for cognition
but a formal model of identity's condition: constraint-based iteration that
produces recognizable, non-compressible differences. The UTM's role is not
computational but ontogenic: generating the series
from which identity can be read. Fractal
output is not decorative. It is necessary. Without recursive differentiation,
there can be no emergence, no identity, no realness. A system that does not
output fractally cannot be cognized, cannot be experienced, and therefore,
does not exist—not ontologically, but procedurally. Conclusion: Toward a Procedure-Based Ontology In Procedure
Metaphysics, to be is to be identified and experienced as real by virtue
of constrained differentiation. The Universal Turing Machine, long treated as
a model of abstract computation, is instead a generator of ontological
relevance. It exemplifies the fundamental condition: existence emerges only
where constraint compels the elaboration of difference. Fractals,
in this light, are not curiosities but evidences.
They are the recursive marks left by rules that successfully elaborate what
can be known, encountered, and registered. Logic is not static form, but the
cognizable elaboration of rule-governed difference. Where this constraint
holds and elaborates, realness follows. Beyond
that, there is nothing. |