PHET and the Event Horizon of Experience A Phenomenological Resolution to the Quantum–Classical Divide

The quantum measurement problem has long been framed as a conflict between the continuous, unitary evolution of quantum systems and the discrete, definite events that appear in experience. This white paper argues that the problem arises not within physics, but at the interface between physical description and the temporal structure of consciousness. Quantum mechanics describes potentials—amplitudes, correlations, and evolving relations—but it contains no resources for generating events, definiteness, or a present moment. These belong to the phenomenology of experience. Drawing on the Phenomenology of the Human Experience of Time (PHET), I develop an account of how consciousness synthesizes retention (the just-past), presence (the unfolding now), and anticipation (the imminent future) into discrete events. On this view, “collapse” is not a physical process but the experiential actualization of a physical interaction. Classicality does not emerge from physics; it emerges from the temporal organization of consciousness. This framework dissolves the measurement problem, completes relational quantum mechanics, clarifies the appearance of classical definiteness, and reconciles quantum formalism with lived reality—all without modifying the physics. Events arise in experience, not in physical ontology.