FRC and Process Philosophy

Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy offers a metaphysical framework that resonates deeply with the FRC approach to quantum mechanics and consciousness.

Whitehead's Core Ideas

Actual Occasions

Whitehead proposed that reality consists not of static substances but of actual occasions — momentary experiences that arise, achieve satisfaction, and perish.

"The many become one, and are increased by one."

Each actual occasion:

Prehends (grasps) previous occasions
Concresces (grows together) into a novel unity
Perishes into objective immortality for future occasions

Panexperientialism

Whitehead suggested that experience goes "all the way down" — not just human consciousness, but all actual occasions have a primitive form of experience.

FRC Parallels

The FRC framework shows striking structural similarities:

Whitehead Concept	FRC Equivalent
Actual occasion	Coherence measurement event
Prehension	Wavefunction entanglement
Concrescence	Decoherence/collapse
Eternal objects	Lambda field potentials
Subjective aim	Coherence attractor

The Witness Function

The FRC witness function W mirrors Whitehead's notion of the "subjective form" — how an occasion experiences its data:

$$ W = \frac{|\langle\psi|\hat{O}|\psi\rangle|}{||\hat{O}||} $$

High witness magnitude corresponds to strong prehension; low W to vague, indefinite experience.

Coherence as Creative Advance

Whitehead's "creative advance into novelty" maps to the FRC principle that coherence patterns determine which possibilities actualize:

$$ P(\text{outcome}) \propto C(\text{attractor}) $$

Why This Matters

Process philosophy provides:

Metaphysical grounding — FRC isn't just equations; it's a worldview
Consciousness integration — Experience is fundamental, not emergent
Temporal becoming — Time is real, not illusory (see time)
Relational ontology — Reality is constituted by relations

Differences

FRC also departs from Whitehead in important ways:

Mathematical precision — FRC offers testable predictions (see FRC-100-010)
Reductionist bridge — FRC connects to standard QM formalism
Determinism — FRC's lambda field is deterministic, unlike Whitehead's creativity

Referenced by