Triple Consilience: Consciousness, Quantum Reality, and the Geometry of the Universe
By Sungchul Ji, Ph.D. (assisted by ChatGPT)
Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Cell Biology
Rutgers University
Piscataway, NJ.
“The most robust truths are those discovered three times over by three different minds.”
— S. Ji & ChatGPT, paraphrasing Whewell and Peirce
In a time when science, spirituality, and philosophy are often seen as incompatible, a quiet convergence is taking place—one that may redefine our understanding of reality. This convergence, or triple consilience, emerges from the works of three thinkers: Tony Nader [1], R.W. Boyer [2], and the present author’s formulation of the Geometry of Reality (GOR) [3].
Despite their different languages—spiritual, quantum-theoretical, and geometric-semiotic—these three frameworks arrive at a common insight: Reality is triadic [4], consciousness is fundamen3]tal [5], and the universe is a self-knowing process [6].
The Three Pillars
1. Tony Nader: Consciousness Is All There Is [1]
A neuroscientist and Vedic scholar, Nader proposes that consciousness is not a product of the brain but the fundamental substance of the universe. Everything—particles, energy, time, space—emerges from a unified field of pure consciousness. This view is rooted in the Vedic tradition, operationalized through practices such as Transcendental Meditation, and extended into a modern metaphysical framework.
2. R.W. Boyer: Pointless: The Reality Behind Quantum Theory [2]
Boyer interprets quantum theory through the lens of ancient metaphysics, particularly Vedanta. Rejecting reductionist models of quantum mechanics, he argues that reality consists of a threefold structure—mind, body, and a third, transcendent aspect—that is best understood in holistic, non-dual terms. The book’s title reflects the disappearance of “points” in favor of dynamic relational structures.
3. Sungchul Ji: Geometry of Reality (GOR) [3]
GOR postulates that reality consists of three orthogonal dimensions—Matter (X), Mind (Y), and Spirit (Z)—forming a cube whose origin is the irreducible triadic source of all projections (see Figure 2 below). Every phenomenon is a projection of this XYZ-axis origin, giving rise to energy-information-spirit units called gnergitons, and triadic self-organizing processes modeled by IRVSE (Iterative Reproduction with Variation and Selection by Environment) [7] (defined in Figure 1 below).
Figure 2. The Geometry of Reality [3].
Core Idea: Irreducible Triadicity [4]
Each of these thinkers, in their own language, refutes the sufficiency of dyadic models—matter and energy, subject and object, wave and particle. They instead promote a third component that mediates or transcends the dyad:
Nader: Knower – Knowing – Known
Boyer: Mind – Body – Transcendence
Ji: Object – Sign – Interpretant (after Peirce) [8]
In all three cases, the triadic architecture is irreducible [4]. Trying to collapse it into a dyad results in conceptual paradox or logical fallacy—what I have elsewhere called the False Disjunction Bias (FDB).
The Role of Information and Selection
The convergence becomes even more striking when we examine the role of information:
Nader views consciousness as the organizing field from which all information and structure emerge.
Boyer sees quantum entanglement as evidence of pre-structured unity, implying that information is woven into the fabric of reality.
GOR defines gnergiton as the union of energy, information and consciousness/spirit, and interprets all meaningful structure as the result of triadic selection, formalized by the Principle of Dynamic Info-genesis (PDI) (see the legend to Table 1).
Randomness (n) → Selection (m) => I = log2 (m/n) in bits
Convergence of Nader, Boyer, and GOR can be diagrammatically represented as follows:
Toward a Unified View of Reality
This triple consilience—spanning ancient metaphysics, quantum theory, and geometry/structure—points to a new ontology:
Reality is a triadic process of consciousness selecting from possibilities (n) to generate actualities (m).
This view challenges both materialist reductionism and mystical escapism. It affirms that:
The universe is not mindless or blind;
Consciousness is not an accident;
Structure is not arbitrary;
Evolution is a selective, self-organizing, gnergitonic process;
And truth may be triangulated by its appearance in three distinct paradigms.
Final Reflection
Just as celestial triangulation allows sailors to determine their true position at sea, triadic convergence among Nader, Boyer, and GOR may help us orient ourselves in the ocean of being. This is not merely theoretical: it calls for a transformation in how we live, think, evolve, and understand what it means to be conscious in the cosmos.
Reality, like consciousness, is not found in the parts, but in their relationship—a triad dancing at the heart of being.
References:
[1] Nader, T. (2024). Consciousness Is All There Is, Hay House, CA.
[2] Boyer, R. (2020). Pointless: The Reality behind Quantum Theory, Routledge, New York, NY.
[3] Ji, S. (2025). From Silicon to Spirit: Mapping Federico Faggin’s Consciousness onto the Geometry of Reality: A comparative exploration of Faggin’s irreducible consciousness and the triadic geometry of mind, matter, and spirit. https://622622.substack.com/p/from-silicon-to-spirit-mapping-federico
[4] Ji, S. (2018). The Universality of the Irreducible Triadic Relation. In: The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter. World Scientific Publishing, New Jersey.
[5] Valentinuzzi, T. (2025). Federico Faggin’s Philosophy on Consciousness. https://www.sciencephilosophy.org/federico-faggin-philosophy-consciousness/
[6] Ji, S. (1991). A Biological Model of the Universe: The Shillongator. In: Molecular Theories of Cell Life and Death (S. Ji, ed.), Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, N.J. Pp. 152-163, 230-237.
[7] Ji, S. (2018). Op. cit. P. 389.
[8] Charles Sanders Peirce. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sanders_Peirce