AX-006: Self-Grounding
Statement (one sentence)
The ultimate substrate cannot depend on an infinite regress of deeper substrates; it must be self-grounding at some level.
Intended meaning (2-5 sentences)
If every substrate requires a deeper substrate, explanation never terminates. The framework therefore permits (and requires) a termination point: a reality whose existence is not conditioned on a deeper carrier.
What this is NOT claiming
- Not that we can “prove” which termination point is correct by physics alone.
- Not that intermediate layers do not exist; only that regress must terminate.
Downstream commitments
- Any proposal for
χmust not reintroduce infinite regress by definition.
Enables / supports
Vulnerabilities / critique points
- “Why can’t reality just be ‘brute’ without self-grounding language?”
Best replies (tight, logical)
- You can label it “brute,” but the formal role remains: the system must stop somewhere. This axiom types that necessity rather than hiding it.