| _version_ | 1866901816940167168 |
|---|---|
| author | Morris, Jamie |
| author_facet | Morris, Jamie |
| contents | <p>This work examines a widely held but rarely articulated assumption: that if the fundamental laws of nature are finite, elegant, and complete, then reality itself must eventually become exhaustible in understanding and experience. The paper argues that this assumption is false.</p> <p>By distinguishing finite law-syntax from the structure of their realizations, it shows that compact, closed laws can generate systems with unbounded descriptive depth. Drawing on standard features of mathematics and physics—such as computable non-terminating constants, continuity, and limit processes—the paper demonstrates that closure at the level of laws does not imply closure at the level of manifestation.</p> <p>As a result, even a fully specified set of physical laws would not eliminate novelty, surprise, or meaning. Instead, finite laws entail inexhaustible refinement when accessed by finite agents operating under limited resolution. Consciousness is therefore reframed not as a solver of reality, but as a finite renderer navigating lawful infinity.</p> <p>The paper makes no claims of new physical laws or empirical predictions. Its contribution is conceptual: clarifying what finite laws already imply about explanation, experience, and the persistence of meaning in a lawful universe.</p> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_18448637 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | Finite Laws and Unbounded Descriptive Depth Morris, Jamie <p>This work examines a widely held but rarely articulated assumption: that if the fundamental laws of nature are finite, elegant, and complete, then reality itself must eventually become exhaustible in understanding and experience. The paper argues that this assumption is false.</p> <p>By distinguishing finite law-syntax from the structure of their realizations, it shows that compact, closed laws can generate systems with unbounded descriptive depth. Drawing on standard features of mathematics and physics—such as computable non-terminating constants, continuity, and limit processes—the paper demonstrates that closure at the level of laws does not imply closure at the level of manifestation.</p> <p>As a result, even a fully specified set of physical laws would not eliminate novelty, surprise, or meaning. Instead, finite laws entail inexhaustible refinement when accessed by finite agents operating under limited resolution. Consciousness is therefore reframed not as a solver of reality, but as a finite renderer navigating lawful infinity.</p> <p>The paper makes no claims of new physical laws or empirical predictions. Its contribution is conceptual: clarifying what finite laws already imply about explanation, experience, and the persistence of meaning in a lawful universe.</p> |
| title | Finite Laws and Unbounded Descriptive Depth |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18448637 |