The Dynamics of Time and Timelessness: Philosophy, Physics and Prospects for our Life

Abstract

The concept of endo-physics was introduced [1–2] in the context of selfreference in quantum physics and artificial intelligence (AI) research. Now, regarding quantum physics, it implicitly relies on something existing outer to itself, namely, the existence of an observer related to consciousness. In order to evaluate the relation of consciousness to (quantum) physics, it is necessary to recognise the fact that physical behaviour follows the principle of least action (action principle) which requires the behaviour to be directed towards the physical equilibrium. Now since biology follows a principle which acts against the physical principle, attempting to preserve the distance from physical equilibrium, and consciousness allegedly develops only in biological organisms (at least in the observer concept of quantum physics), the observer lives on an ontologically different level from the physical realm [3–5]. Therefore, the epistemological structure of the observer-observed relation contains a two-levelled ontological structure. Regarding AI, it relies on “creators” of hardware and software, therefore its epistemology is that of the deistic materialism [6], i.e. another ontologically two-levelled structure. Now self-modification, the concept closely related to endophysics [7], is characteristic for a biological and/or psychological level of ontology [4–5]. Therefore, it is an important recognition that self-governing systems follow developmental paths different from physical entities. Therefore endo-physics, putting the observer into a physical context, compresses the two-levelled ontological structure into a monistic ontology and creates epistemic paradoxes with Klein-bottle structures. Nevertheless, when we are aware that there is an at least two-levelled ontology behind the concept of endophysics, it is easy to remove certain types of paradox epistemic structures, like Klein-bottles, since self-reference becomes simply reference of one existential level to another.