Abstract

The same mechanism operates from quarks to consciousness. We call it Universal Constraint Parsing (UCP)—constraints at each level evaluate entities against possibility spaces, accepting configurations that fit, rejecting those that don't. Quarks are parsed by QCD field constraints. Molecules are parsed by thermodynamic constraints. Organisms are parsed by ecological constraints. Beliefs are parsed by evidential constraints. Memes are parsed by cultural constraints. Self-models are parsed by architectural constraints. This isn’t metaphor or loose analogy—across domains, selection dynamics belong to the same formal equivalence class of constraint-satisfaction processes under scale-appropriate coarse-graining. While state variables and effective free-energy functionals differ by level, the underlying variational structure and selection dynamics are preserved. Crucially, UCP operates without agency—no designer, no purpose, no teleology required at any level. Agency itself emerges as a functional property when systems begin recursively parsing their own parsing at the consciousness threshold. We demonstrate UCP across all levels, show what emerges at complexity thresholds (replication, learning, consciousness), explain how existing frameworks (Universal Darwinism, memetics, Free Energy Principle) relate to UCP, and derive empirically constraining expectations. The framework is falsifiable and unifies phenomena previously treated as separate. It's physics all the way—mechanistic constraint satisfaction at every level.