Abstract

This manuscript develops a metaphysical framework that models reality as a dual-layered structure to reconcile determinism with the lived experience of agency. It posits a foundational, deterministic layer containing the complete set of all potential states, and a second, finite informational layer wherein consciousness, time, and identity emerge. Continuity is expressed not through matter itself, but through the conservation and recombination of information across layers, shaping both individual experience and the broader evolution of civilizations. Reality unfolds through a process termed realignment, by which the informational layer selects and instantiates a life-path from the deterministic substrate. This interaction is governed by informational finitude, yielding a Finite-Worlds framework in which only finitely many branches can be inhabited by finite agents within any given experiential epoch — a key departure from standard multiverse views. Quantum probability, within this model, is reinterpreted not as intrinsic randomness but as a reflection of the geometric distribution of these pre-encoded trajectories. Ultimately, this framework resolves the determinism–agency debate by framing agency not as a violation of determinism, but as a profound evolutionary achievement: the co-evolution of an agent’s informational complexity to achieve compatibility with progressively more sophisticated, pre-existing realities. By synthesizing principles from information theory and cosmology, this work contributes a coherent, non-anthropocentric ontology for investigating the architecture of existence. This manuscript is presented as a series of thought experiments, offered for philosophical reflection and discussion rather than empirical validation.