Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
ZENODOarrow_drop_down
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
versions View all 2 versions
addClaim

The Information Coherence Hypothesis: A Unified Informational Framework for Reality, Consciousness, and Meaning

Authors: Brause, Den;

The Information Coherence Hypothesis: A Unified Informational Framework for Reality, Consciousness, and Meaning

Abstract

The Information Coherence Hypothesis (ICH) is a comprehensive ontological framework proposing that information — understood not as Shannon-theoretic data, but as a fundamental substrate of distinctions and relations — constitutes the primary fabric of reality. The paper presents a multi-level architecture of nested informational spaces connected through informational resonance, governed by twenty foundational principles. It introduces the Information Spectrum — a five-tier ontology from structural to transcendent information — and characterizes consciousness as a local metapattern of maximal integrated information. Key contributions include: Informational attractors as teleological organizing principles Temporal integration as an emergent property of informational dynamics Central Information Metapattern (CIM) — the formal limiting case of maximal informational integration, grounded in a triadic ontology: Informational Protovacuum, Logos, and CIM Integration Minimum Principle (solve et coagula): all phase transitions to higher integration necessarily pass through a minimum — demonstrated across cosmic, biological, psychological, and technological domains Formal analysis of beauty, creativity, play, humor, ethics, dreams, embodiment, death, and meaning as expressions of informational organization The framework demonstrates structural convergence with seven independent lines of contemporary research (2025–2026), including Levin's multiscale competency architecture, topological constraints on self-organization, cognition space cartography, and molecular topology of reasoning in large language models — suggesting the ICH captures genuine structural invariants of reality. 18 testable predictions are proposed across AI topology, neural integration, sleep architecture, humor phenomenology, and contemplative neuroscience. Connections are developed to Integrated Information Theory (IIT), the Free Energy Principle (FEP), and Constructor Theory. The ICH offers an integrative bridge between physics, biology, cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and the perennial questions of meaning. Keywords: information ontology, integrated information, informational resonance, self-organization, consciousness, metapattern, emergent complexity, phase transitions, embodied cognition, artificial intelligence, philosophy of mind, philosophy of physics

Keywords

Artificial intelligence, Consciousness, emergent complexity, Information Theory, informational resonance, philosophy of mind, Information Theory/history, consciousness, artificial intelligence, self-organization, phase transitions, Integration Minimum Principle, integrated information, Central Information Metapattern, embodied cognition, Artificial Intelligence, philosophy of physics, information ontology, metapattern, information theory

  • BIP!
    Impact byBIP!
    selected citations
    These citations are derived from selected sources.
    This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    0
    popularity
    This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    Average
    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Related to Research communities
Upload OA version
Are you the author of this publication? Upload your Open Access version to Zenodo!
It’s fast and easy, just two clicks!