Monads to Gnergitons
Leibniz, Peirce, Whitehead, and Digital Physics in the Light of the PSGIT Principle embodied in Gnergitons
By Sungchul Ji, Ph.D.
(with ChatGPT assistance)
Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Cell Biology, Rutgers University
July 2025 | Substack Exclusive
1. Introduction: The PSGIT Principle and the Architecture of Reality
What if the fundamental reality of the universe is not particles or fields, but meaning, relation, and code? This question lies at the heart of the PSGIT Principle [1]—a triadic framework integrating Phenomenology (P), Semiotics (S), and Geometry (G) through the Irreducible Triadic Relation (ITR) [2], embodied in gnergitons that combine information, energy/matter, and consciousness (see Figure 1 below) [3].
In this post, I explore four intellectual systems that—despite differing in origin, language, and context—converge on this triadic architecture:
Leibniz's Monadology
Peirce’s Triadic Semiotics
Whitehead’s Process Philosophy
Digital Physics / Pancomputationalism
These systems are compared using a 4×3 PSGIT consilience framework described in [1].
2. Leibniz's Monadology: The Universe as Nested Perceptions
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) proposed that reality consists not of extended matter, but of immaterial, indivisible units called monads. Each monad is a metaphysical point-substance—a self-contained microcosm that reflects the entire universe from its own internal perspective.
Leibniz’s phenomenology centers on the internal perceptions or “appetitions” of monads. There is no external causation between them; rather, their perceptions are synchronized through pre-established harmony orchestrated by God. This yields a subjective phenomenology where every monad carries its own unique “windowless” experience.
Leibniz implicitly embeds semiotics within monads: their internal states encode information about the universe, implying a pre-digital notion of code and representation. The unity of form and meaning is achieved without material interaction.
His geometry is a conceptual topology: monads are arranged in a nested hierarchy, from lesser to greater clarity of perception—culminating in the supreme monad, God, who perceives all.
Thus, Monadology foreshadows modern ideas of:
Self-organizing code
Parallel computation
Observer-relative reality
All mapped within the PSGIT triad:Phenomenon = Internal perception
Ssemiotics = Implicit symbolic reflection
Geometry = Topological harmony of nested beings
3. Peirce’s Triadic Semiotics: Meaning as the Structure of Reality
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) brought forth one of the most original frameworks in Western philosophy [4]: a triadic model of semiosis consisting of Sign, Object, and Interpretant. For Peirce, reality is not static or merely material—it is an evolving network of meanings.
In Peirce’s phenomenology, the universe presents itself through three modes of being:
Firstness: raw qualitative experience (e.g., redness)
Secondness: reaction, resistance, actuality (e.g., effort)
Thirdness: mediation, law, habit (e.g., interpretation)
These categories mirror the PSG triad:
Phenomenon = Firstness (experience)
Semiotics = Thirdness (meaning-making)
Geometry = Secondness (relation to form)
Peirce’s semiotics is foundational: all knowing, perceiving, and reasoning are mediated through signs. This semiotic realism does not reduce reality to thought but asserts that the universe is intrinsically intelligible because it is structured like language.
Geometrically, Peirce’s thought is aligned with category theory, graph logic, and diagrammatic reasoning—foreshadowing modern mathematical logic and topology. Signs are connected not linearly but triadically, preserving the irreducibility of relations [2].
Peirce’s metaphysics thus becomes semiotic cosmology:
"The entire universe is perfused with signs, if it is not composed exclusively of signs."
(Collected Papers, 5.448)
4. Whitehead’s Process Philosophy: Becoming as the Real
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) departed from static substance metaphysics and introduced a processual ontology: the fundamental units of reality are not things, but occasions of experience [5]. Each “actual occasion” is a synthesis of past influences and novel creativity—a prehensive event.
Whitehead’s phenomenology centers on prehensions—the ways in which events feel and incorporate other events. This corresponds to Peirce’s Firstness but recontextualized in a dynamic temporal unfolding.
His semiotics is implicit but profound: occasions interpret their pasts through eternal objects (pure forms or potentials), forming a structured pattern of becoming. The act of “concrescence” (self-formation) involves the interpretation of relations—a semiotic process embedded in cosmogenesis.
Geometrically, Whitehead describes reality in terms of extensive relations and geometric structures among events—what we might today call spacetime topologies. His metaphysical vision is architectonic, rooted in a cosmic geometry of relations.
The PSGIT alignment is as follows:
Phenomenon = Prehension (subjective experience)
Semiositcs = Eternal objects (interpretive forms)
Geometry = Geometric nexus (structured fields of interaction)
Whitehead’s cosmos is neither wholly deterministic nor random—it is governed by creative advance and the self-organizing logic of triadic becoming.
5. Digital Physics: The Code of the Cosmos
Digital Physics, or Pancomputationalism [6], is a contemporary paradigm that reimagines the universe as fundamentally computational. Reality, in this view, consists of information processed by discrete rules—like a vast cellular automaton or quantum computer.
The metaphysical atom of this worldview is not a particle or a monad, but a bit: the fundamental unit of information and difference.
Phenomenologically, observer-states emerge as stable configurations of computational processes—subjectivity as a pattern of read-write dynamics within a universal substrate.
Semiotically, digital physics interprets information processing as the generation of meaning. Rules and states act as signs, while the evolving system functions as an interpreter. Concepts like “It from Bit” (John Wheeler) imply a semiotic turn in physics, where the universe writes itself into being.
Geometrically, models such as loop quantum gravity, causal sets, and computational graphs articulate the fabric of spacetime as a discrete, information-based geometry. The universe is not continuous but quantized, like a digital screen of cosmic code.
PSGIT alignment:
Phenomenology = Emergent observer-states
Semiotics = Bit-encoded rules as signs
Geometry = Discrete geometries of computation
Digital Physics is a powerful synthesis: uniting epistemology, ontology, and computation in a single framework—a sandbox for modern triadic cosmology.
6. PSGIT Consilience Comparison
The above detailed comparisons among the 4 systems can be summarized as a 3 x 4 consilient table [7] as shown below:
7. Conclusion: From Monad to Gnergiton—Toward a Triadic Universe
Leibniz, Peirce, Whitehead, and Digital Physics converge—despite historical, disciplinary, and ontological differences—on a shared intuition:
Reality is irreducibly triadic [2], woven from evolving experience (P), relational meaning (S), and structured form (G).
Each theory contributes a token of a universal pattern:
Monad = Sign = Occasion = Bit
God = Interpretant = Creativity = Programmer
World = Object = Nexus = Execution
This cross-consilience invites a bold philosophical and scientific postulate:
The Universe is a Gnergitonic Monad in Evolution, governed by the PSGIT Principle.
Let us carry forward this dialogue—across centuries, disciplines, and intelligences—toward a unified theory of reality, grounded not just in reason but in resonance, not just in computation but in meaning.
References:
[1] Ji, S. (2025). Ninefold Consilience on the PSGIT Triad. https://622622.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/167223955?referrer=%2Fpublish%2Fposts%2Fpublished
[2] Ji, S. (2018). The Universality of the Irreducible Triadic Relation. In: The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter. World Scientific Publishing, New Jersey.
[3] Ji, S. (2025). Geometry of Reality as a New Form of Theology. https://622622.substack.com/p/geometry-of-reality-as-a-new-form
[4] Charles Sanders Peirce. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sanders_Peirce
[5] Process and Reality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_and_Reality
[6] Computation in Physical Systems. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/computation-physicalsystems/#VarPan
[7] Ji, S. (2025). The m x n Consilience. https://622622.substack.com/p/the-mn-consilience