Coherence as the Governing Invariant of Persistence_ A Unifying Principle Beneath Physics, Biology, Mind, and Value

Abstract Why do some systems persist over time while others abruptly collapse? This paper advances a single, pre-theoretic claim: systems persist if and only if they maintain coherence under disturbance; collapse occurs when drift exceeds recoverable bounds. This principle is not a competing theory within physics, biology, cognition, or ethics. It sits prior to them. Each of these paradigms presupposes persistence—particles that remain identifiable, organisms that remain alive long enough to reproduce, minds that remain continuous enough to learn—but none defines what makes persistence possible in the first place. By naming coherence explicitly as a governing invariant, identity ceases to be primitive and failure ceases to be narrated only after the fact. The paper shows how diverse failures—mechanical, biological, cognitive, and organizational—share a single structural form, and why minimal phase-based structure is required for persistence at all. The treatment is intentionally non-technical and public-facing; formal definitions, measurements, and proofs appear in companion technical work. The goal is clarity: to make explicit a condition long assumed but rarely articulated, and to situate existing theories within the regimes where they apply. (Note this is an intuitive explainer, see rest of the work for technical details.)