Abstract
On the assumption that reality is more encompassing than the usual subject matter of the physical sciences this essay motivates the notion that physical reality, which reveals its insubstantial nature when examined closely, can be viewed as an information-processing system that connects organisms with the consequences of their actions as a means of generating knowledge and ultimately consciousness. The Perfect Anthropic Cosmological Principle [PACP] is introduced, a hypothesis at the explanatory level of an Aristotelian Final Cause that makes falsifiable predictions about what can and cannot be observed in the physical universe. The essay concludes that models of physical systems, even cosmological models that attempt to view the universe objectively, deal only in the information-processing power of physical reality, which, in the grander scheme of things, serves the purpose of engendering conscious beings by connecting agents with the consequences of their actions. The fact that our foundational model of physical systems can be expressed equivalently in discrete or continuous form is considered a Zen-like statement about ultimate reality, which is neigher discrete nor continuous, and both.
John Francis Gadway