Frequency as the Foundation: A Unified Process Ontology of Reality
This document introduces a novel process ontology, proposing that reality is fundamentally a dynamically self-generating and self-organizing system. This intrinsic, irreducible drive towards self-organization through continuous activity is termed Autaxys. The universe is conceptualized as a foundational, dynamic medium or substrate undergoing continuous, iterative processing orchestrated by Autaxys. Observable phenomena do not arise as static entities composed of substance, but as dynamic relational patterns within and of this fundamental medium, created and sustained by its intrinsic process. From this perspective, the universe operates as a fundamentally computational system, where the dynamic medium serves as the substrate, the processing represents the ongoing computation, and Autaxys is the inherent principle or engine driving and structuring this computation that generates and sustains all phenomena. A central tenet emerging directly from this process ontology and the principle of Autaxys is a frequency-centric view of reality. Within the fundamental dynamic medium, all phenomena—from fundamental fields and elementary particles to complex systems—are understood as dynamic relational patterns characterized by intrinsic processing frequencies or rates of change. This perspective reveals a profound connection between General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Using natural units, these established equations lead directly to the fundamental identity . This identity, a mathematical consequence of accepted physics when unit conventions are removed and illuminated by the process ontology, asserts that in a unit system aligned with nature’s fundamental constants, a pattern’s rest mass is numerically identical to its intrinsic angular frequency. Illuminated by this process ontology and the principle of Autaxys, the identity compels a reinterpretation of mass. Mass is viewed not as inert substance but as a stable, resonant state—a self-sustaining standing wave pattern—within the fundamental dynamic medium. It represents the energy and informational complexity of this pattern, fundamentally determined by its characteristic processing frequency, specifically the Compton frequency. Physical entities are thus dynamic, information-theoretic patterns, suggesting the universe operates as a fundamentally computational system processing frequency-encoded information. Mass signifies stable, self-validating information structures within this cosmic computation, solidified and maintained by the dynamics of the fundamental process orchestrated by Autaxys. This perspective effectively dissolves traditional dualisms (e.g., information vs. substance, discrete vs. continuous) by asserting that dynamic relational patterns processed within the fundamental medium are the fundamental ontological basis; information and substance, discreteness and apparent continuity, are unified as inherent aspects of these patterns and the Autaxic process that sustains them. This framework offers significant explanatory power: accounting for the cosmic drive towards increasing complexity inherent in Autaxys and the mathematical elegance of physical laws, providing a conceptual bridge between GR and QM by interpreting both as descriptions of the fundamental medium’s dynamics at different scales orchestrated by Autaxys, and suggesting specific, testable predictions related to the fundamental properties of the dynamic medium and the Autaxic process. The validity of this perspective is assessed by its comprehensive coherence: logical consistency (self-organization/Autaxys, dissolution of paradoxes via processing within the dynamic medium), explanatory breadth (unifying phenomena, explaining , bridging GR/QM, accounting for complexity/laws), compatibility with empirical observation (reinterpreting data, proposing testable predictions), and capacity as a productive foundation for future inquiry. The framework yields specific, potentially falsifiable predictions concerning signatures of fundamental processing granularity, detection of intrinsic medium resonances, anomalies in extreme regimes, and context-dependent variations in emergent parameters.