How Self-Reference Builds the World (Part 1)

Abstract

If you were to build a world from Nothing, how would you do it? By investigating the nature of self-reference, we will show how this can be achieved, how starting from Nothing, Everything can be obtained. Various implications of the definition of self-reference will be investigated, showing how it can account for various aspects of the phenomenology of consciousness, thus showing how starting from only 1 principle, a world of infinite complexity can be obtained. Parallels with set theory will be made along the way.

Part 1 of this two-part article includes: 1. Introduction; 2. Initial Considerations; 3. Self-Reference; 4. More Aspects of Self-Reference; 5. Meaning and Context; & 6. Building Consciousness.