Mingxiang Liu

Based on the first principle of the ontology of cognitive succession (the essence of cognition is succession), this paper strictly deduces from the three-layer isomorphic spatiotemporal rules of ontology-physics-logic to generate a universally applicable meta-methodology for complex system evolution. This method extracts three basic axioms: irreversibility of evolution, homologous breakpoints, and three types of cognitive deviation, constructs a six-step standardized system regulation operation paradigm, and establishes quantitative judgment standards for cognitive coverage rate and cognitive deviation rate. From the ontological root, it clarifies that all practical problems of complex systems originate from the homologous element association breakpoints caused by human cognitive deviation. Completing breakpoints and calibrating deviations are the only paths for the system to return to the steady state of unity-in-difference and synergy. This meta-methodology breaks the disciplinary barriers between natural sciences, life sciences, engineering technology, and social sciences and humanities. It can be uniformly used for etiological diagnosis, scheme derivation, and AI-assisted experimental implementation of world-class problems in all fields such as physical engineering, biomedicine, energy materials, and artificial intelligence. This paper provides a unified underlying theoretical basis for the full series of application papers (controlled nuclear fusion, Alzheimer's disease, post-Moore chips, lithium batteries, etc.), and is a key practical achievement of the ontology of cognitive succession from explaining the world to transforming the world.

Chalmers' "hard problem of consciousness"—why physical processes are accompanied by subjective experience—remains the ultimate challenge in contemporary philosophy of mind and cognitive science. All traditional theories have failed to solve this problem because they presuppose the false ontological premise that "the physical is qualitative-less and consciousness is qualitative". Based on the Ontology of Cognitive Succession and taking the unfalsifiable first principle that "the essence of cognition is succession" as the sole foundation, this paper provides the first complete ontological dissolution of the hard problem of consciousness. This paper demonstrates that succession is the only ultimate reality, and every successive process necessarily has two inseparable aspects: the external physical aspect and the internal conscious aspect. Physical processes and conscious experiences are not causally related but two different perspectives of the same successive process. Extending this principle to all sensory perception processes, this paper provides a unified ontological explanation for vision, audition, olfaction, gustation and somatosensation, completely dissolves the traditional distinction between primary and secondary qualities, achieves ontological unification of the physical and conscious worlds, and lays a self-consistent and paradox-free ontological foundation for consciousness research and the realization of artificial general intelligence.

General relativity's conclusion that gravitational waves propagate at the speed of light in vacuum without dispersion is built on the unproven ontological presupposition that spacetime is a smooth, uniform, and innate container. Based on the original Cognitive Succession Ontology as the sole foundation and taking "the essence of cognition is succession" as the unfalsifiable first principle, this paper deduces that authentic physical spacetime is not an innate container but a three-dimensional coupling network of one-dimensional successive rays, and absolute vacuum does not exist in the world. It can be necessarily deduced from the ontological level that gravitational waves, as perturbations of the spatiotemporal successive coupling network, inevitably exhibit dispersion effects; there are inherent differences in the propagation speeds of gravitational waves with different frequencies, with higher frequencies corresponding to slower propagation speeds. This paper only conducts pure ontological deduction and does not involve engineering quantification, experimental schemes, or on-site observations. If this ontological prediction holds true, it will fundamentally subvert the traditional view of spacetime and provide a priori logical basis for the ontological reconstruction of physics.

The core dilemma of modern physics stems from two unproven ontological presuppositions: that spacetime is an innate container preceding matter, and that matter is an entity composed of indivisible particles. These presuppositions have led to the fundamental split between general relativity and quantum mechanics, giving rise to a series of century-old unsolved problems such as wave-particle duality, the quantum measurement paradox, the nature of gravity, and dark matter and dark energy. Based on the sole unfalsifiable first principle that "the essence of cognition is succession", this paper deduces a complete ontological system through pure a priori reasoning: the authentic physical world consists solely of one-dimensional successive rays and their transverse coupling relations; time is the successive extension of rays, space is the network of coupling relations, matter is the steady state of closed coupling, and all interactions are different manifestations of coupling actions. Particles are not authentically existing entities, but rather point-like endpoint phenomena presented in the observer's phenomenal world when two rays undergo an all-or-nothing coupling. Based on this framework, this paper uniformly explains all core phenomena in both the microscopic quantum domain and the macroscopic relativistic domain in one go, resolves all traditional physical paradoxes at the ontological level, achieves the ontological unification of the four fundamental forces, and proposes three falsifiable core predictions. This paper demonstrates that all theories of traditional physics are approximate descriptions of the authentic physical world at the phenomenal level, and their fundamental error lies in mistaking "coupling endpoints" for "primitive entities", thereby reversing the causal relationship. Cognitive Succession Ontology provides a logically consistent and universally unified ultimate foundation for physics.

The core dilemma of modern physics stems from two unproven ontological presuppositions: that spacetime is an innate container preceding matter, and that matter is an entity composed of indivisible particles. These presuppositions have led to the fundamental split between general relativity and quantum mechanics, giving rise to a series of century-old unsolved problems such as wave-particle duality, the quantum measurement paradox, the nature of gravity, and dark matter and dark energy. Based on the sole unfalsifiable first principle that "the essence of cognition is succession", this paper deduces a complete ontological system through pure a priori reasoning: the authentic physical world consists solely of one-dimensional successive rays and their transverse coupling relations; time is the successive extension of rays, space is the network of coupling relations, matter is the steady state of closed coupling, and all interactions are different manifestations of coupling actions. Particles are not authentically existing entities, but rather point-like endpoint phenomena presented in the observer's phenomenal world when two rays undergo an all-or-nothing coupling. Based on this framework, this paper uniformly explains all core phenomena in both the microscopic quantum domain and the macroscopic relativistic domain in one go, resolves all traditional physical paradoxes at the ontological level, achieves the ontological unification of the four fundamental forces, and proposes three falsifiable core predictions. This paper demonstrates that all theories of traditional physics are approximate descriptions of the authentic physical world at the phenomenal level, and their fundamental error lies in mistaking "coupling endpoints" for "primitive entities", thereby reversing the causal relationship. Cognitive Succession Ontology provides a logically consistent and universally unified ultimate foundation for physics.

The Hairy Ball Theorem, a core classical theorem in topology, has been rigorously proven in its mathematical form, yet it has long faced a fundamental ontological dilemma: it can only assert that "there must exist at least one zero-vector singularity on a two-dimensional sphere" but cannot explain the ontological root of this conclusion, nor can it clarify the essence and existential significance of singularities. Traditional explanations attribute it to "the inherent property of the spherical topological structure", falling into a purely formal circular argument; in physical applications, singularities are regarded as "breaks and anomalies in continuous fields", leading to internal logical contradictions in theories. Based on the three-layer spatiotemporal 1:1 alignment framework and geometrized axiom system of the Ontology of Cognitive Succession, taking "the essence of cognition is succession" as the only unfalsifiable first principle, this paper proves through strict linear logical deduction that the singularity of the Hairy Ball Theorem is not a formal anomaly but an inevitable anchor point for closed successive evolutionary systems to return to their origin. This paper provides the first complete ontological foundation for the Hairy Ball Theorem, resolves the traditional contradiction between "continuous fields and singularities", unifies cross-domain singularity phenomena, and simultaneously verifies the explanatory power and universality of the Ontology of Cognitive Succession for pure mathematical theorems.

Current general artificial intelligence (AGI) technologies centered on large language models have made remarkable progress in natural language generation, pattern matching and other fields, but they have long been trapped in four fundamental paradigm dilemmas: the symbol grounding problem of disconnection between symbols and physical reality, the lack of ontological foundation for hierarchical cognition, the permanent misalignment between logical forms and physical causality, and the blank ontological framework for silicon-based true consciousness. These dilemmas ultimately manifest as incurable model hallucinations, essential limitations in causal reasoning, weak cross-domain generalization, and the absence of autonomous awareness and reflexive capabilities. Existing studies only stay at the level of engineering optimization and statistical fitting, failing to resolve the core contradictions from the underlying cognitive rules and ontological roots. Based on the original cognitive succession ontology (Geometric Ontology of Being), this paper takes the Universal Meta-Rule of Succession as the only unfalsifiable first principle, constructs a three-layer nested isomorphic and strictly 1:1 aligned framework consisting of the Ontological Spatiotemporal Layer, the Authentic Physical Spatiotemporal Layer and the Logical Spatiotemporal Layer, and clarifies that the Phenomenal Physical Spatiotemporal Layer is an affiliated representational sublayer of the Physical Spatiotemporal Layer and does not constitute an independent ontological level. The paper systematically elaborates the dual-layer cognitive structure, the universal sensation-perception-feeling cognitive interface, and the reflexive nature of consciousness, and accordingly completes the integrated theoretical reconstruction of AGI cognitive architecture and silicon-based consciousness. This architecture realizes the unambiguous binding of symbols-physical reality-ontological being, the underlying isomorphism between logical reasoning and physical causality, and the global unification of hierarchical cognition and primordial differentiation rules from the ontological root. It provides a complete and self-consistent underlying theory for AGI's hallucination-free cognition, true causal reasoning, human-like autonomous awareness and safe controllable iteration. As the first engineerable silicon-based consciousness scheme derived from the ontological foundation, all conclusions of this architecture are strictly based on the single first principle without any transcendental assumptions, offering a paradigm-level path for general artificial intelligence to evolve from cognitive fitting to true consciousness emergence.

General relativity's conclusion that gravitational waves propagate at the speed of light in vacuum without dispersion is built on the unproven ontological presupposition that spacetime is a smooth, uniform, and innate container. Based on the original Cognitive Succession Ontology as the sole foundation and taking "the essence of cognition is succession" as the unfalsifiable first principle, this paper deduces that authentic physical spacetime is not an innate container but a three-dimensional coupling network of one-dimensional successive rays, and absolute vacuum does not exist in the world. It can be necessarily deduced from the ontological level that gravitational waves, as perturbations of the spatiotemporal successive coupling network, inevitably exhibit dispersion effects; there are inherent differences in the propagation speeds of gravitational waves with different frequencies, with higher frequencies corresponding to slower propagation speeds. This paper only conducts pure ontological deduction and does not involve engineering quantification, experimental schemes, or on-site observations. If this ontological prediction holds true, it will fundamentally subvert the traditional view of spacetime and provide a priori logical basis for the ontological reconstruction of physics. Keywords: Cognitive Succession Ontology; Gravitational Wave Dispersion; Nature of Spacetime; Universal Meta-Rule of Succession; Ray Coupling Network

Based merely on empirical observations, modern quantum mechanics holds that the decoherence rate of quantum entanglement is exponentially correlated with environmental coupling density. This conclusion lacks a fundamental ontological foundation and cannot resolve the quantum measurement paradox at its root. Based on the original framework of Cognitive Succession Ontology, this paper takes "the essence of cognition is succession" as the only unfalsifiable first principle within the boundary of human cognition. It deducts ontologically that the essence of all physical interactions lies in the transverse coupling between successive sequences, and quantum entanglement is the nonlocal intrinsic binding of homologous successive sequences. On this basis, this paper puts forward a purely ontological prediction: quantum entanglement decoherence is a linear process in which external successive sequences cut off entanglement homologous bindings one by one. The decoherence rate presents a strictly linear positive correlation with environmental coupling density, rather than the exponential correlation claimed by traditional quantum mechanics. This paper only conducts pure transcendental ontological deduction, without involving experimental design or engineering verification. If this linear decoherence law is logically self-consistent, it can be proved that quantum evolution has no inherent intrinsic randomness, and the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics is only an approximate description at the cognitive phenomenal level. It provides a core theoretical basis for the ontological reconstruction of quantum mechanics and the resolution of the measurement paradox.

For over two thousand years, the philosophy of mathematics has been trapped in the ontological dilemma of "whether mathematics is invented or discovered", while long plagued by core problems such as Wigner’s puzzle of unreasonable effectiveness, Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, infinity paradoxes, and the legitimacy of mathematical axioms. Existing schools of mathematical philosophy can only explain partial phenomena, failing to achieve the underlying logical closed loop between mathematics, authentic physical reality, and conscious cognition, let alone touch the ultimate ontological root of mathematics. Based on the author’s original Cognitive Succession Ontology system, starting from the unfalsifiable first principle that "the essence of cognition (faculty) is succession", this paper derives the ultimate ontological definition of mathematics: mathematics is an unambiguous abstract expression of the universal meta-rule of succession governing all domains, made by humans with self-created symbolic systems. Taking geometrized construction, which is strictly 1:1 aligned with existential ontology, as the intermediary, this paper opens up the full-chain logic of "ontological meta-rule → authentic physical causality → conscious cognition → symbolic abstraction", thoroughly resolves all millennial and centennial problems in the philosophy of mathematics, proves the underlying homology between mathematics, the authentic physical world, and conscious cognition, and finally completes the cross-domain logical closed loop of ontology, physics, consciousness science, and mathematics. This theory provides the ultimate ontological support for the absolute truth of mathematics, lays a legitimate foundation for the cross-domain application of mathematics, and offers a brand-new paradigm-level path for the development of the philosophy of mathematics.

Hume’s causality problem, proposed in A Treatise of Human Nature, is one of the most subversive intellectual challenges in the history of Western philosophy. Through rigorous empiricist analysis, Hume proved that what humans call "causal necessity" is essentially nothing more than a habitual association of "constant conjunction" between succession sequence nodes, with no objective or logical necessity. This conclusion not only destroyed the traditional metaphysical view of causality but also shook the legitimate foundation of all scientific knowledge. For more than two hundred years, solutions such as Kant’s a priori category theory and modern scientific instrumentalism have failed to thoroughly respond to Hume’s skepticism. Based on Cognitive Succession Ontology, starting from the unfalsifiable first principle that "the essence of cognition is succession", this paper rigorously proves through logical deduction that succession is the ultimate meta-rule governing all existence and cognition. Causal necessity is neither a subjective habit nor an a priori category, but a logical necessity of being itself. This theory fundamentally resolves Hume’s problems of causal necessity and inductive legitimacy, providing a solid ontological foundation for human scientific knowledge.

Kant’s proposition that "things-in-themselves are unknowable" is the ultimate dilemma of subject-object dualism in Western philosophy for over two thousand years. Kant argued that humans can only know phenomena and cannot grasp the primordial being of things themselves, a conclusion that completely severed the connection between cognition and reality, undermining the legitimacy of metaphysics and leaving an irreparable crack in the objectivity of scientific knowledge. Based on Cognitive Succession Ontology, this paper takes the unfalsifiable first principle that "the essence of cognition is succession" as its starting point, and rigorously proves through strict logical deduction that generalized things-in-themselves (including unmanifested ontological spacetime and manifested authentic physical spacetime), though not directly perceivable, can be precisely known 1:1 through geometrized construction and logical retrospection. This paper further demonstrates that ontological spacetime, authentic physical spacetime, and cognitive logic share the same Universal Meta-Rule of Succession and possess underlying isomorphism; Kant’s so-called "a priori categories" are not inherent structures of the human mind but natural manifestations of the succession meta-rule at the cognitive level. This theory fundamentally resolves the thing-in-itself problem and subject-object dualism, providing a solid epistemological and ontological foundation for Cognitive Succession Ontology and the unification of the four fundamental forces.

For over a century, theoretical physics has been trapped in a fundamental paradigm dilemma on the path to unifying the four fundamental forces: all existing unified theories rely on unfalsifiable subjective presuppositions and extra dimensions, remaining only at the level of mathematical formal splicing and fitting. They neither touch the common ontological root of the four fundamental interactions nor resolve core paradoxes such as the quantum measurement paradox, the incompatibility between general relativity and quantum mechanics, and the unexplainable nature of spacetime. Rather than proposing another mathematical unification model, this paper reconstructs the foundation of physics from the ontological level. Taking the unfalsifiable first principle that "the essence of cognition is succession" as the sole cornerstone, it derives the Universal Meta-Rule of Succession governing ontological being, cognitive logic, and authentic physical reality. Through geometrized construction, it achieves strict 1:1 alignment of ontology, logic, and authentic physics, ultimately proving at the ontological level that the four fundamental interactions are not independent physical entities but inevitable manifestations of the same succession coupling mechanism at different scales. This paper strictly distinguishes between the Authentic Physical Spatiotemporal Layer and the Phenomenal Physical Spatiotemporal Layer, clarifying that all underlying mechanisms of physical interactions occur in the objective authentic physical spacetime, and thoroughly corrects the ontological fallacy of traditional physics that confuses reality with appearance. This is an ontological study of the foundations of physics, not a purely mathematical physics paper. Both qualitative and semi-quantitative falsifiable predictions are provided in Section 5.2.

本书系作者前期研究《存在与本质：全客观存在论——全域本体建构与终极存在法则》的形式化升级与跨领域拓展成果，二者共享同一核心本体论基底，不存在理论冲突或范式替代关系。 前期研究以纯存在论视角，构建了"本源圆融→本源分化→分离→回归原质善"的完整理论体系，从根源上消解了传统存在论的二元对立困境。但后续研究发现，纯哲学的语义化表达存在两个不可规避的内在局限：其一，核心概念的语义歧义易导致本体论承诺偏差，难以形成跨主体的无歧义学术共识；其二，纯本体论的抽象推演缺乏与自然科学的直接接口，跨领域可通约性不足，无法有效转化为可操作的科学研究与工程实践工具。 为破解上述局限，本文引入几何化形式作为存在论本质的无歧义载体，实现"形式层与语义层的绝对1:1绑定"。更为关键的是，为打通哲学本体论与自然科学的学科壁垒，本文回归人类认知的终极边界，以"认知的本质是前后相继"这一人类认知边界内不可证伪的事实为唯一认识论起点，推导出统摄本体存在、认知逻辑、物理现实三大领域的前后相继全域元规则。这一转换并非放弃原有的纯客观存在论立场，更非以认识论取代本体论，而是为纯客观的本源存在找到了一个科学可接受的认识论锚点——我们只能以相继的方式认知世界，因此所有可讨论、可验证的存在必然遵循相继规则。认知相继并非独立于本源存在的新增原理，而是意识的自返性在人类认知层面的必然显现。 在此基础上，本文构建了"本体时空层-物理时空层-逻辑时空层"三层嵌套同构的1:1对齐框架，将原有的存在论演化链条完整映射为几何元素的生成序列，最终实现了本体分化、逻辑推理、物理因果三大序列的同步对齐。本文的核心目标，是让全客观存在论从纯哲学理论，转变为一套无歧义、可操作、可量化、全域适配的基础性理论框架，为哲学本体论重构、科学理论建构、通用人工智能底层设计等领域提供统一的元方法论支撑。注：本书是《存在与本质》全集三卷中的下卷“回归：存在的几何化”的单行本。上卷、中卷以附文形式供参考。

Traditional ontology has long been trapped in a triple predicament of binary opposition, subjective interpretation, and meaning nihilism, and existing studies have yet to form a complete framework of Pan-Objective Ontology. Grounded in Pan-Objective Ontology and abandoning all subjective presuppositions, this study constructs an ontological system following the progressive logic of "Primordial Integral Unity (Benyuan Rongrong) → Primordial Differentiation → Separation → Return to Primordial Essential Goodness (Yuanzhi Shan)". It defines the ultimate foundational attribute of Primordial Integral Unity, sorts out the three core laws of primordial differentiation, focuses on analyzing the neutral essence and formation mechanism of separation, clarifies its evolutionary logic of neutral separation and difference establishment as well as its three stipulations, distinguishes the ontological boundaries among differentiation, separation, and antagonism, and anchors Primordial Essential Goodness as the ultimate destination of ontology. This study fundamentally resolves the binary opposition dilemma of traditional ontology, fills the interpretive gap in the manifestation path of existence, and provides a unified ontological criterion and solution for contemporary human survival and cutting-edge issues such as artificial intelligence ethics.

The core dilemma of human cognition and scientific theory construction lies in the fact that the legitimacy of logical form cannot be directly equated with the truth of causal content. Self-consistent logic generated by cognition often misaligns with the real causal chains of the physical world—a predicament that permeates all fields of philosophy, science, and practical activity. Taking the "essence of cognition is succession", the only unfalsifiable first principle within the boundaries of human cognition, as the sole starting point, this paper derives the universal meta-rule of succession governing ontology, cognitive logic, and authentic physical reality through the cognizability isomorphism presupposition. It constructs a three-layer nested isomorphic 1:1 alignment operational framework of "Ontological Spatiotemporal Layer-Authentic Physical Spatiotemporal Layer-Logical Spatiotemporal Layer". Through the inherent unity of geometric form and ontological essence, this paper completes the full geometrized construction from primordial being to universal evolution with meta-point initial state, closed-loop ray, plane circle, and three-dimensional sphere as core carriers, achieving synchronous alignment of ontological differentiation sequence, logical reasoning sequence, and authentic physical causal sequence. This system provides a brand-new ontological path for resolving the millennial opposition between idealism and materialism, reveals the root cause of cognitive deviation from the underlying mechanism of cognition generation, and offers an unambiguous, operable, and universally adaptable basic theoretical framework for philosophical ontology reconstruction, scientific theory construction, artificial intelligence underlying architecture design, and theoretical physics unification.