The Subphysical Conjecture

Reality as we see it around us is a massively multiplayer game.
Of course this means that the apparent physical universe is not the most fundamental level of reality; it is the "board" on which the game of life is played.
Living beings in this world are avatars of the players, who live in another more fundamental level which we will call the "subphysical realm".

The proposed structure of the subphysical realm

Static frames

The primary base component of the subphysical realm is conjectured to be the "static frame", defined as an arrangement of nucleons and other particles in the observable universe, i.e., those parts of the universe that can be viewed from the point of view of an observer.

In our case, that would be everything from Earth to the furthest possible reach of the observable universe. It should be obvious that there is a finite number of distinct possible static frames, one for each such arrangement of particles.

We can think of these frames as being three-dimensional, although that is not essential to the argument. In fact, they might actually be two-dimensional, and the three-dimensional appearance of the physical realm may be a holographic projection. See the Scientific American article "Universe Really Is a Hologram According to New Simulations" for details.

But whatever their dimensionality, my proposal conjectures that the subphysical realm contains all of those static frames.

The backplane

For the players to interact with the static frames, they need a communications network. I propose that this communications network uses "spooky action at a distance" because that mechanism has unlimited bandwidth and zero latency. This means that the number of simultaneous games played on the same set of static frames is unlimited as well.

I call this proposed network "the backplane".

Life and the passage of time

Life is conjectured to be a subphysical quality that endows its possessors, living beings, with the ability to switch their viewpoints from one static frame to another by a currently unknown mechanism that allows them to influence which next frame they will experience.

The passage of time is conjectured to be an effect of this switching between frames.

Free will

This conjecture allows for the existence of free will, i.e., teleologically determined behavior, rather than requiring that all events experienced by a living being be either random or predetermined.

Other hitherto unexplained phenomena that fit into this paradigm


FAQ

Definitions and introduction

The subphysical model of reality


What is the definition of "subphysical"?

"Subphysical" means "pertaining to the realm of reality that is 'below' (more fundamental than) the apparent physical universe that we see all around us".

What is the evidence that the subphysical realm exists?

We know that the apparent physical universe that we see around us is not the most fundamental level of existence. The technical explanation for how we know this is beyond the scope of this website but is available in books by physicists. However, I can summarize it by saying that quantum mechanics demonstrates the existence of an essentially infinite number of parallel universes consisting of every possible arrangement of subatomic particles that can exist at any distance from the observer. Clearly this is not what we observe in everyday life, so there is at least one further level of existence.

What are other possible consequences of its existence?

Of course there are many other possible consequences besides those mentioned above, but the most obvious ones at this early time in the development in this theory are:

  • That life is more fundamental than the physical universe.
  • That there are laws of this subphysical realm that are also more fundamental than the laws of physics.

Should we expect it to be rule-governed? If so, why?

Yes, we should expect it to be rule-governed. The reason is that living creatures can affect their environments in purposeful ways to achieve goals, which would not be possible if the subphysical realm were chaotic or random rather than rule-governed. Human beings are the only known living creatures who can do this consciously, but all living creatures do it, or they could not survive.

The subphysical model of reality

Physical law vs. subphysical law

Physical law is based on quantum mechanics. While there are of course other levels of explanation of the physical realm besides quantum mechanics, that is the most fundamental level of explanation in the physical realm.

Subphysical law must have an analogous "most fundamental" level of explanation, as otherwise we are faced with an infinite regress. Of course we know almost nothing about the subphysical realm, as it has just been discovered. But what we do know is that it is more fundamental than the physical realm. Hence, its law must also be more fundamental than physical law.

An analogy for programmers

Subphysical law is to physical law as a hypervisor is to an operating system.




I recommend David Deutsch's "The Fabric of Reality" for a relatively accessible explanation of this astounding fact. However, I do not recommend his analysis of what this means for the underlying nature of reality.