Thesis: A Unified Structural Theory of Complex Systems — Formal Laws, Epistemic Constraints, and Self-Organization Across Physical, Cognitive, and Social Domains

Author: Boris Kriger Affiliations: Information Physics Institute, Gosport, UK Institute of Integrative and Interdisciplinary Research, Toronto, Canada Type: Doctoral Thesis (PhD by Publication / Opus Magnum) Description: This doctoral thesis presents a unified structural theory of complex systems, synthesized from over seventy original publications spanning 1999–2026. The central result is that persistence — the capacity of a system to maintain structural viability over time — is the primary organizing principle of complex systems across all domains. This is established not as a metaphor but as a substrate-independent mathematical theorem: the same formal constraints govern the organizational logic of physical systems, cognitive architectures, social institutions, and astrophysical structures. Part I establishes the meta-theoretical foundation: the Law of Scale-Specific Principles (no final all-encompassing theory is possible), the Formalization Laws (every formal description is bounded, structurally determined, and necessarily plural), the Principle of Definition-Dependent Provability, and the Epistemic Constraint Theory (inferential capacity is bounded by the minimum of computational, observational, and structural constraints). Part II develops the dynamical core: the Transformational Basis of Persistence (structural viability as the formal condition for persistence), structural resilience in discrete-state systems, four laws of self-organizing systems (Cooperation, Viability, Interference, Observability — proved independent and complete), cyclical closure and self-sufficiency, the emergence of Newtonian dynamics from metric inertial axioms, the Constraint–Autonomy Compatibility Law, and the Viability Mismatch Law. Part III derives the architecture of cognition and consciousness as structural necessities: the Structural Distortion Principle (perception as world-maintenance under bounded resources), the evolutionary inevitability of predictive processing, representational isolation, the atemporality of memory, the functional sufficiency framework for consciousness, the formalization of mental disintegration phenomena through dynamical systems theory, and the identification of inadequate biological programs in human decision-making. Part IV extends the theory to social and multi-agent systems: formal frameworks for deception and perceived reality, autonomy suppression in hierarchical systems, the Principle of Structural Non-Neutrality, conflict as phase transition, the Asymmetry of Totalizing Ideals, extractive oscillators with sensor degradation (applied to narcissistic dynamics, addiction, and exploitative platform design), non-participation and pre-integrative rejection as institutional strategies, conceptual responsibility, assertion–dismantling cycles, the Comparative Asymmetry Principle, and the Reflexive Inference Law. Part V demonstrates applications: binary star formation as persistence-selected outcome, dormant neutron stars, the Ledger Time Model, biospheric and synthetic contributions to effective complexity, holographic universe evaluation, clinical discontinuity and AI, AI-extended agents and the transformation of communication, the Stimulus Problem in post-scarcity environments, the Inward Turn (Fermi Paradox), the inevitability of a unified civilization of autonomous agents, and viral dynamics as information propagation. Three methodological principles distinguish the work: constraint derivation rather than model postulation; substrate abstraction with formal proof; and recursive self-application (the theory applies to the system that produced it). The thesis concludes that persistence over the perception of reality is the primary organizing principle — truth-seeking, consciousness, social organization, and scientific inquiry are derived as instruments of persistence, not as ends in themselves. Keywords: complex systems, persistence, viability, self-organization, epistemic constraints, predictive processing, structural theory License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Language: English Related identifiers (selected): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18435982 (The Transformational Basis of Persistence) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18363729 (Four Formal Laws of Self-Organizing Systems) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18099738 (No Final Theory: Law of Scale-Specific Principles) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18099527 (Formalization Laws) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18365738 (Epistemic Constraint Theory) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18444910 (Evolutionary Inevitability of Predictive Processing) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18452700 (The Structural Distortion Principle) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18556979 (Formalization of Mental Disintegration Phenomena) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18484819 (Conflict as Phase Transition) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18437440 (The Inward Turn)