The Paradigm of the Great Life

The book by Alexander Neshmonin, Changing the Paradigm of Life: New answers to the old questions, presents the Paradigm for a general reader; these pages are written for specialists in physics, biology, and philosophy who wish to test its ideas against their own fields.

• Abstract
• Why this matters
• Key principles (at a glance)
• What this framework is (and isn’t)
• Bridges to current science
• For specialists: quick entry points
• Reading map
• Design goals of this site
• Cite and reuse
• Contact

Abstract

The Paradigm of the Great Life is a dual framework for interpreting Reality. It pairs:

• Objective side: Energy — the physically conserved substrate of change.
• Subjective side: Information — agent-dependent meaning formed by Context.

Core idea: every phenomenon should be examined from both Metaphysical Realism (objective) and Metaphysical Anti-Realism (subjective). Ignoring either produces one‑sided explanations. This site distills the framework, provides operational bridges to current science, and outlines research prompts specialists can test.

Why this matters

• Unifies sense-making: links physical carriers (Texts) with agent models (Contexts). See 📝Text–Context–Interpretation.
• Clarifies information: separates Shannon’s objective information from agent surprisal. See 📊Information: Objective vs Subjective.
• Grounds agency: defines a minimal “Me/Not‑Me” boundary and shows how agents organize both Energy and Information. See 🧭Agency & Delegation.
• Scales across levels: from molecules to organisms to “quasi‑organisms” (species‑level collectives). See 🧬Hierarchies & Quasi‑Organisms.
• Suggests testable bridges: dual statements for thermodynamics, quantum measurement, autocatalysis, and quantum control. See🧠For Specialists.

Key principles (at a glance)

• Dual Reality: Objective Energy is conserved; Subjective Information depends on an agent’s Context.
• Text–Context–Interpretation: Texts are objective carriers (signals, traces, data). Context is the agent’s model. Interpretation maps Texts into meaning and action.
• Information duality:
• Objective: Shannon information and entropy derive from source distributions.
• Subjective: surprisal is $−log Q(i)$, the agent’s unexpectedness given its Context $Q$.
• Agency: the capacity to maintain homeostasis by distinguishing “Me” from “Not‑Me,” updating Context, and acting.
• Two‑way organization: Life organizes Energy using Information, and organizes Information using Energy.
• Hierarchy: agents exist in levels; each level has a cognition limit. Collective patterns can behave as “quasi‑organisms.”

What this framework is (and isn’t)

• Is: a manifesto and research agenda — alternative interpretations consistent with current formalisms where possible, aiming for new questions and experiments.
• It isn’t: a replacement physics theory, nor a rejection of established results. It’s a complementary lens that emphasizes the subjective leg, which is usually implicit.

Bridges to current science

• Thermodynamics (dual second law): global entropy constraints (objective) with local agent-driven decreases via free-energy flows (subjective). See 🔥Open‑System Thermodynamics.
• Quantum foundations: complex amplitudes carry objective statistics ($|ψ|²$) and context-sensitive relations (phase). Measurement is “closing the loop” with an agent-defined basis. See🧿Quantum Foundations.
• Autocatalysis & proto‑agency: minimal criteria to distinguish interaction from control in chemical networks. See 🧪Autocatalytic Sets & Proto‑Agency.
• Quantum control: measurement‑based feedback as “delegation of agency” events; converting coherence into work/information. See 🎛️Quantum Control & Feedback.

For specialists: quick entry points

• Operational tests: closed-loop control, counterfactual interventions, reductions in predictive free energy. See ✅Operational Criteria.
• Research prompts: small, falsifiable studies aligned to existing toolchains (laser feedback, resource theories of coherence, microbial consortia control). See🔬Research Directions.

Reading map

• Start here: 🌓Dual Reality → 📝Text–Context–Interpretation →🧭Agency & Delegation.
• Then: 🧬Hierarchies & Quasi‑Organisms → 📊Information: Objective vs Subjective.
• Specialists: jump to 🧠For Specialists, 🔬Research Directions, and 🔗 How This Relates to Adjacent Ideas.
• Key terms: 📚Glossary❓FAQs, and 🔗 How This Relates to Adjacent Ideas

Design goals of this site

• Clarity over authority: precise definitions, minimal math, concrete bridges.
• Compatibility first: align with existing formalisms before proposing extensions.
• Testability: every claim should admit an operational reading.

Cite and reuse

• Cite the book: Alexander Neshmonin, Changing the Paradigm of Life: New Answers to the Old Questions (EN edition), ISBN: 9798316199631.
• Site content license: CC BY 4.0. Short quotations of definitions and diagrams are encouraged with attribution.

Contact

• Media, collaborations, and pointers to relevant datasets or labs are welcome. See 📬Contact & Updates.