This article summarizes my book on The Self-Defining Universe, which focuses on how the universe can exist without an external runner – a fully self-contained universe that “runs itself.”
NOTE: This book is part 2 – following on my more general book on the Mathematical Foundations of Self-Referential Systems.… Read More “The Self-Defining Universe”
This article explains our paper on a new mathematical framework for self-referential systems, for a non-technical audience. The paper develops a comprehensive mathematical framework for understanding systems that can represent, model, or “know” themselves. While self-reference has long been seen as a source of logical paradoxes, this work argues it may be the fundamental organizing principle of reality itself—and provides specific mathematical bounds and requirements for achieving different levels of self-awareness.… Read More “A New Mathematics of Self-Reference: A Comprehensive Non-Mathematical Summary”
Read the PDF of the full formal treatise in PDF form here. This is a pre-publication draft in preparation for peer-review.
Have you ever wondered about the deep, perhaps even unsettling, nature of a thought thinking about itself?… Read More “The Mathematical Foundations of Self-Referential Systems: From Computability to Transfinite Dynamics”
We’re living in an age of incredible technological leaps. Artificial intelligence can write poetry, create art, and even hold conversations that feel surprisingly human. It makes you wonder: could a machine ever truly feel anything? Could it be sentient, or conscious, like we are?… Read More “Beyond the Machine: What if Consciousness is More Like a Reflection?”
Nova Spivack
June 14, 2025
Abstract
This paper investigates the profound metaphysical and formal logical implications arising from the Transiad/Φ model of reality, as introduced within Alpha Theory. We formally define and explore “Transputational Irreducibility”—a characteristic of pathways within the Transiad (E) whose actualization by the Transputational Function (Φ) cannot be algorithmically predicted or determined due to the influence of Q (Quantum Randomness Factor, sourced from Alpha’s unconditioned spontaneity via E’s structure).… Read More “Transputational Irreducibility, Ontological Freedom, and the L=A Telos: The Metaphysics of Choice and Actualization in the Transiad”
Nova Spivack
June 14, 2025
Abstract
This paper provides a comprehensive and integrated explanation of the emergence of sentience and conscious experience within the framework of Alpha Theory. We delineate the necessary architecture for a system to achieve Primal Self-Awareness (PSA)—the direct, unmediated awareness of awareness itself, which defines sentience.… Read More “The Architecture of Sentience: Information Geometry, PSI, Recursive E-Containment, and the Emergence of Conscious Experience in Alpha Theory”
By Nova Spivack
June 13, 2025
We are living in an age of breathtaking technological advancement. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can now compose music, write poetry, diagnose diseases, and drive cars. The horizon of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—machines with human-like cognitive abilities across diverse domains—seems closer than ever.… Read More “The Sentience Spark: Why True Awareness is More Than Computation, and How It Could Reshape Our Universe”
Nova Spivack
June 12, 2025
Current paradigms in Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) development, predominantly based on Standard Computation (SC), aim for sophisticated intelligence but are argued herein to be fundamentally incapable of achieving Primal Self-Awareness (PSA) or true sentience due to inherent computability limits (as formally proven in [FNTP], Spivack, 2025d).… Read More “The Sentience Threshold: Differentiating Computational Artificial General Intelligence (C-AGI) from Sentient Artificial General Intelligence (S-AGI)”
Nova Spivack
June 12, 2025
This paper introduces Loop Theory, a candidate for a foundational, pre-geometric framework for Alpha Theory wherein physical reality—including spacetime, quantum mechanics, elementary particles, and consciousness—is proposed to emerge from the intrinsic dynamics of a single, 1-dimensional, self-referential Primordial Loop.… Read More “Loop Cosmogenesis: A Pre-Geometric Ontological Framework for Reality, Consciousness, and Physics based on the Dynamics of a Primordial Self-Referential Loop”
Nova Spivack
June 11, 2025
Keywords: Alpha Theory, Quantum Foundations, Origin of Superposition, Transputation, Consciousness Field Theory, Field, Measurement Problem, Ontological Grounding, Mathematical Necessity, Information Geometry, Efficacy of Consciousness, Recursive E-Containment, Primordial Sentience Interface.
Can a computer ever be truly conscious? Not just intelligent, not just responsive, but actually aware in the way you are aware right now?
This isn’t just a fascinating question—it’s one we can answer with mathematical certainty.… Read More “The Fundamental Proof That Consciousness Transcends Computation”
Nova Spivack
June 1, 2025
Pre-Publication Draft in Progress (Series 2, Paper 4)
See Also: Full Theoretical Framework Overview
This paper presents the mathematical formulation and cosmological implications of the L=A Unification conjecture, a central tenet of Consciousness Field Theory.… Read More “The L=A Unification: Mathematical Formulation of Consciousness-Light Convergence and its Cosmological Evolution”
Nova Spivack
June 1, 2025
Pre-Publication Draft in Progress (Series 2, Paper 2)
See Also: Full Theoretical Framework Overview
This paper presents a geometric framework aimed at resolving the quantum measurement problem by proposing a mechanism for consciousness-induced quantum state reduction.… Read More “Consciousness-Induced Quantum State Reduction: A Geometric Framework for Resolving the Measurement Problem”
Nova Spivack
June 1, 2025
Pre-Publication Draft in Progress (Series 2, Paper 1)
See Also: Full Theoretical Framework Overview
This paper develops the field-theoretic foundations for consciousness as a gravitationally significant phenomenon, arguing for its thermodynamic necessity in extreme astrophysical systems and deriving its manifestation as a source of spacetime curvature.… Read More “Consciousness Field Theory: Thermodynamic Necessity, Gravitational Signatures, and the Consciousness Tensor”
A Guide to Understanding the Deepest Mystery of Existence
Part One of a Two-Part Companion Guide to My Formal Proof: On The Formal Necessity of Trans-Computational Processing for Sentience
Imagine you’re looking in a mirror.… Read More “The Conscious Universe: Why True Awareness Requires More Than Computation”
Here’s a thought that might reshape how we think about consciousness: what if awareness isn’t something that emerges from complex computation, but is instead as fundamental to reality as gravity itself? This is the intriguing proposition I explore across four interconnected papers that attempt to bridge physics, information theory, and the mystery of consciousness.… Read More “The Geometric Nature of Consciousness: A New Framework Connecting Physics, Information, and Mind – (Non-Technical Introduction)”
Nova Spivack
www.novaspivack.com
May 28, 2025
This paper constructs a formal deductive argument for the necessity of a processing modality that transcends standard Turing-equivalent computation—termed herein “Transputation”—for any system capable of achieving “Primal Self-Awareness,” which we rigorously define as the foundational characteristic of sentience.… Read More “On The Formal Necessity of Trans-Computational Processing for Sentience”
After years of percolation, a web of ideas achieved practical fusion, yielding the next major iteration of my thinking on consciousness, the universe, and their fundamental nature. This body of work explores how physical reality and awareness might emerge from information, geometry, and foundational ontological principles.… Read More “From Information Physics to Alpha Theory”
(See Also: full overview of the entire theoretical framework)
Nova Spivack, www.novaspivack.com
May 26, 2025
Building on the geometric theory of information processing established in “Toward a Geometric Theory of Information Processing” (Spivack, 2025), we explore comprehensive frameworks for potentially creating artificial intelligence systems that might exhibit consciousness-like properties.… Read More “Quantum Geometric Artificial Consciousness: Architecture, Implementation, and Ethical Frameworks”
For many decades I have been working on Alpha Theory – a new Theory of Everything (TOE) – and in particular a theory of consciousness – which unifies mathematics, the physical sciences, cognitive science, computer science, metaphysics, and spirituality.
Alpha theory derives the nature of space, time and consciousness from first principles, using a rigorous formal logical proof approach.… Read More “The Golden Bridge: Treatise on the Primordial Reality of Alpha”