An Expression of the Paradigm: Cosmology’s Golden Mean

Contributor essay by Zach Gold, presented by Alan Carter as part of the Reciprocality archive.

This article is a response to the Reciprocality papers and reflects the views of the contributor, not necessarily the editor.

After reading 7: The Theory and Practice of Magic, I began reconsidering the Reciprocality papers as a whole. In particular, I suspect there may be a missing element related to the ideas discussed in 2: Ghost Not. The existing papers sometimes struggle to decide what should serve as the foundational reference point for the framework, so I wrote a short note to suggest a possible addition. If the idea proves useful, I may develop it further.

This is a speculative model. It is not presented as established physics or mathematics. Where I refer to formal ideas (for example, Gödel’s incompleteness theorem), I mean them as conceptual constraints on “closed” systems of definition rather than as a proof that this cosmology is correct. For background on Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, see Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Start with a number that represents the total mass in the universe and therefore the motion patterns. Run this number through a “deconstructive” equation that makes the number less organized. If the number is irrational, and if the computation to generate it requires more cycles on a Turing machine, it can be treated as less compressible and therefore less organized.

Then run it through the reverse of that equation, the “reconstructive” process, which makes patterns more organized. When you compare the patterns that each makes, you end up with a fractal geometry. This geometry would explain motion when there is a certain amount of mass in the universe.

I will refer to the equilibrium of mass where there is no motion as the “golden mean” (not the mathematical golden ratio, but an equilibrium point in this proposed system). Motion is patterned so that what happens at one point affects what happens at the next point, in a way that results in the next state having the “right” mass distribution under the reconstructive and deconstructive processes. In symmetry, this would form a “perfect Bennett machine” (a conceptual reversible process). This implies a strong form of constraint on events. If true, events would be “locked in” by the structure of the process rather than chosen freely at each step.

The realization of this cosmology is an example of a strange loop. A part of the universe gains knowledge of the universe as a whole. If the golden mean is the structure that supports everyone’s “map,” most people may never become aware of it. The realization occurs when someone integrates knowledge of the golden mean into the conscious part of their map, creating another strange loop.

What if we divided a map into multiple parts?

1. Golden mean
2. Language (math, English, C, music, etc.)
3. Knowledge packets
4. Procedural

All structures on one level must be definable in terms of the level below it, with everything ultimately definable in terms of the golden mean. Once again, it may not matter what the golden mean “is” in ordinary terms. The claim is that by nominating one thing as undefinable, and treating everything else as a theorem of that system because it is generated by that system, we may have found a way to avoid building a system that collapses under self-reference.

“MO” is an anomaly that occurs in the otherwise productive procedural level. When people affected by this attempt to integrate a new knowledge packet into their map, they define it only in terms of the knowledge-packet level. This creates circularity.

The language level can also be used to address where language comes from and whether language is necessary to produce conscious thought. Language is the basic feedback loop that defines consciousness in this model. Anything located in the language level is generated directly from the golden mean. Some people learning a foreign language are merely building a translator in the knowledge-packet level. To really assimilate the language, it must be built from the golden mean itself, which may require a different method of teaching than is currently used.

Hackers can do the mental feats that they do because they have more of their information located in the language level rather than in the knowledge-packet level. They have a strong ability to spot formal systems, which allows them to turn almost anything into a language and see deep structure.

Now we must define our cosmological model in terms of our psychological model, and vice versa. Language consists of structures generated from the golden mean by the reconstructive process. Knowledge packets are formed from the golden mean by the deconstructive process. Since true language-level thought is developed directly from the golden mean by a person’s brain, it requires an intuitive grasp of patterns between both arrows.

This knowledge may be present in early development in biologically healthy human beings, allowing them to learn basic math and typically fully developed language at the language level. However, after the knowledge packets we are flooded with from the deconstructive arrow cause us to “pack” and thus block this feedback loop, it becomes necessary for a person to reintegrate knowledge of the golden mean into their map.