Abstract
A fundamental assumption embedded in our current worldview is that there exists an as yet undiscovered `theory of everything', a final unified framework according to which all interactions in nature are but different manifestations of the same underlying thing. This paper argues that this assumption is wrong because our current distinct fundamental theories of nature already have mutually exclusive domains of validity, though under our current worldview this is far from obvious. As a concrete example, it is shown that if the concepts of mass in general relativity and quantum theory are distinct in a specific way, their domains become non-overlapping. The key to recognizing the boundaries of the domains of validity of our fundamental theories is an aspect of the frame of reference of an observer which has not yet been appreciated in mainstream physics. This aspect, called the dimensional frame of reference (DFR), depends on the number of length dimensions that constitute an observer frame. Edwin Abbott's Flatland is used as point of departure from which to provide a gentle introduction to the applications of this idea. Finally, a 'metatheory of nature' is proposed to encompass the collection of theories of nature with mutually exclusive domains of validity.
Armin Nikkhah Shirazi