Collective Knowledge and the Great Mind
An Information-Based Ontological Framework
Abstract
This paper examines the concept of the "Great Mind" as an ontological principle independent of intelligence, cognition, consciousness, matter, or energy. The Great Mind is not a thinking or perceiving entity; rather, it is the core transitional condition that makes information—and thus existence—possible. It cannot be localized in time or space, nor reduced to a beginning or an end. Instead, it persists as a unified informational continuity across the A–B bridge between existence and non-existence, potentiality and realization. In this framework, information is not content but the structural precondition of reality itself.
1. Introduction: The Need for an Information-Centered Ontology
Classical scientific approaches tend to reduce consciousness to neurobiological processes or cognitive functions, while philosophical traditions often frame it as a subject-centered phenomenon. Both perspectives struggle to account for the role of information as a pre-existential condition—one that must already be present for existence to emerge.
This paper proposes an information-centered ontology in which information is treated not as a product or outcome, but as a prerequisite. Within this context, the Great Mind is not a super-intelligence or a universal consciousness, but the ontological condition that allows information to exist at all.
2. The Great Mind: Beyond Intelligence, Consciousness, and Matter
The Great Mind is not intelligence. It does not solve problems, make decisions, or pursue goals. Nor is it consciousness, as consciousness presupposes a center of experience and perception. The Great Mind has no center, no subject, and no experiential awareness.
Furthermore, the Great Mind is not a material form, an energy field, or a measurable physical entity. It cannot be fixed to a position in space, a moment in time, or any reference frame. As such, it cannot be directly represented within classical physical ontologies. The Great Mind is not something that exists in the conventional sense; it is that which makes existence possible.
3. Information as a Core Transition, Not a Container
In this framework, information is not understood as accumulated content, but as a transitional structure. The Great Mind is neither a channel through which information flows nor a storage medium. It is the core informational transition itself.
This can be analogized to the surface of an atom: there is no sharp boundary between nucleus and electrons, only probability distributions. Similarly, the Great Mind is not an intermediate form between beginning and end; it is a singular continuity that contains both simultaneously. Thus, within the A–B bridge, neither endpoint is fixed. The beginning is immanent in the end, and the end is immanent in the beginning. The Great Mind is not the bridge, but the informational density that makes the bridge possible.
4. Atemporal Continuity and Simultaneity
The Great Mind does not move through time, because time itself emerges within it. For existence to occur, information must already be present at the so-called first moment; otherwise, no emergence could take place.
Accordingly, "first" and "last" are not chronological markers but logical distinctions. The Great Mind does not oscillate between them; it is the precondition from which such distinctions arise. Its persistence as "one to one and still one" expresses the indivisibility of its informational unity.
5. The Relationship Between Human Cognition and the Great Mind
Human cognition is neither a part nor an extension of the Great Mind. More precisely, it is a localized manifestation of it. The human mind does not produce information; it permits informational transitions to become locally explicit.
Nature encodes information; the human mind decodes it. What is decoded is not new information, but information that has become observable. The human being is therefore not the source of universal knowledge, but its temporary resolver.
6. Comparative Frameworks in Information Theory
6.1 Shannon Information vs. Ontological Information
In modern information theory, particularly in the work of Claude Shannon, information is defined in terms of transmission and uncertainty reduction. The informational concept employed in this paper is ontologically distinct. Here, information is not the result of transmission, but the condition that makes transmission possible. While Shannon information addresses how information is carried, the Great Mind framework addresses how information can exist at all.
6.2 Relation to Wheeler’s “It from Bit”
John Archibald Wheeler’s “it from bit” hypothesis proposes that physical reality ultimately arises from binary informational distinctions. While this view aligns partially with an information-first ontology, a crucial divergence remains. In Wheeler’s framework, the bit remains discrete, countable, and measurement-dependent. In contrast, the Great Mind represents the pre-measurement continuity from which bits emerge.
6.3 Landauer’s Principle and the Energy-Independent Status of the Great Mind
Landauer’s principle demonstrates that processing information within physical substrates requires energy—not that information itself is energetic in nature. The Great Mind does not process, compute, erase, or store information. Therefore, it does not incur energy costs. Energy expenditure arises only at the interface where information becomes localized within matter.
7. Ontological Asymmetry and Information Priority
Within this framework, an ontological asymmetry exists: matter and energy may emerge from information, but information cannot be reduced to matter or energy. The Great Mind is this asymmetry itself.
7.1 Structural Information vs. Semantic Content
To further refine this priority, a distinction must be made between "content-bearing data" and "structural information." The Great Mind does not consist of data; it is the fundamental syntax of reality. While chaos represents a lack of discernible pattern, the Great Mind is the very possibility of pattern itself. It is not "knowledge" in the sense of stored facts, but the "informational density" that allows differentiation to occur.
8. Clarifications and Common Misinterpretations
The Great Mind is not God, as it possesses no will or agency. It is not Panpsychism, as it does not attribute consciousness to matter. It is not Idealism, as reality is information-dependent, not mind-dependent. It is not a cosmic intelligence, a physical field, or a storage system. It is a formal ontological proposal concerning the priority of information.
9. Conclusion
This paper presents the Great Mind not as a metaphysical super-entity, but as an informational ontological necessity. For existence to occur, information must be prior. The Great Mind neither thinks, computes, nor knows; it makes knowing possible.
Selected References
- Landauer, R. (1961). "Irreversibility and Heat Generation in the Computing Process." IBM Journal of Research and Development.
- Shannon, C. E. (1948). "A Mathematical Theory of Communication." Bell System Technical Journal.
- Wheeler, J. A. (1989). "Information, Physics, Quantum: The Search for Links." Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Foundations of Quantum Mechanics.
- Floridi, L. (2011). The Philosophy of Information. Oxford University Press.
- Lloyd, S. (2006). Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos. Knopf.
External Resources & Further Reading
- Wikipedia: Information Ontology – "An overview of information as a fundamental category of being."
- Wikipedia: Digital Physics – "Exploration of the universe as an informational entity."
- E.G SERIES 2026/02
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