The Energetic Structure of Observation

Abstract

Progress in the scientific study of the material world in the last few decades has shown conclusively that Nature is energetically stratified, and that nearly all observable systems are made up of hierarchies of such strata. A characteristic feature of these strata is that each is mapped by its own specific language, reflecting the fact that each stratum is characterised by its own laws, and is therefore irreducible to any other energetic stratum. Among the many types of energetic hierarchies, one is of special interest in the present context. It will be referred to here as a cognitive system. A cognitive system is identified by the fact that its emergent stratum is conceptual rather than physical, though its energetic substrate is of course physical, and indeed quantal. The functional relationship between its more energetic, or causal stratum, and the less energetic or emergent one is, operationally, that of a semantic filter. Functionally, this last may be defined as the filtering out of intelligence from information. This article presents a rough sketch of the functional anatomy of the filter.