Reality As A Temporal Manifestation: An Observer-Relative Interpretation of Interaction, Information, Experience, and Natural Constraint

This paper describes the temporal nature of reality as a manifestation of a determinate, relational state from an observer’s temporal interaction with naturally constrained systems. This conceptual framework depends on the critical distinction between natural existence that does not depend upon an observer, and a determinate reality for an observer that is instantiated only through a qualifying interaction. For any observer O at time t, this relation is expressed schematically as IO(t) + PO(t) --> RO(t), where R is the reality instantiated for the observer, I is the interaction of the observer with naturally constrained systems, P the observer's presently instantiated physical and mental state. At this stage, this relationship is presented as a foundational schema rather than as a completed mathematical or computational formalism. By defining an observer in physical and functional terms, this framework de-anthropomorphizes the concept of observation. A minimal observer could be a simple sensor or other physical system in which environmental interaction produces a causally differentiated state, independent of consciousness, semantic interpretation, memory, or experience. More complex observers introduce additional capacities for retention, processing, interpretation, and experience, allowing continuity between successive realities through presently instantiated physical consequences of prior interactions. The framework further distinguishes observer-relative reality from objective correctness. While different observers may instantiate divergent realities based on physical variances, interactions and instantiated states, natural laws prevent these states from becoming arbitrary. Observers do not create natural laws, and subjective or algorithmic convergence can arise through reproducible interaction, shared physical constraints, and causal information propagation. In this sense, this framework provides a basis for algorithmic objectivity without requiring a single observer-independent representation of reality.