The Emergent Self: A Multidisciplinary Analysis of Energy, Evolution, and the Perceptual Interface

This paper explores the ontological transition from fundamental physical forces to the complex phenomenon of human creative agency. By synthesizing principles from thermodynamics, evolutionary biology, and cognitive science, we argue that the “human being” is not a static entity but an emergent process—a “persistent pattern” of energy. Furthermore, we examine the Interface Theory of Perception (ITP), which suggests that human consciousness functions as a simplified biological “user interface,” masking the underlying complexity of reality to optimize evolutionary fitness.