Ontological chain
Δ → R → I → A → V → M → P
This page summarizes the core sequence of Informational Ontology: Difference, Relation, Information, Awareness, Value, Meaning, and Purpose. Each step is treated as a logical and structural development from the previous one, rather than as an arbitrary list of concepts.
For a more narrative and analogy-rich path through the same ideas, see the Start here section.
1. One chain, seven stages
The goal is not to multiply metaphysical entities, but to show how much structure follows from starting with difference and refusing to smuggle in anything else. Each stage deepens what came before.
How each step follows
These are short, non-technical bridges between stages. The Deep Dive pages give the full argumentation.
Δ → R: Difference implies relation(open)
A difference is never “alone”: to differ is to stand in contrast. Boundaries, gradients, and contrasts are relations among differences, not additions on top of them.
R → I: Structured relation becomes information(open)
When relations form stable patterns, they rule in and rule out possibilities. That constraint is what IO calls information: structured difference with implications.
I → A: Awareness is informational reflexivity(open)
A system becomes aware when information is not only present, but internally registered such that the system’s own informational state constrains its future state-space.
A → V: Persistence creates preference(open)
Once a system can track alternative states, some states support its continued coherence and others undermine it. That differentiation is value: better and worse outcomes for the system.
V → M: Meaning is value structured in context(open)
Meaning is not an inherent property of information. It emerges when information is filtered through value—when what matters is organized across an internal landscape of alternatives and implications.
M → P: Purpose projects meaning through time(open)
Purpose is meaning stabilized into directed trajectories. It is value and meaning extended over time, shaping consistent action rather than isolated responses.
Δ
To exist is to differ.
Difference is the minimal condition for anything to exist at all. If there were no differences, nothing could be distinguished, related, or known.
R
Differences never occur in isolation.
Once you have at least one difference, you immediately have relationships: contrasts, gradients, boundaries, and patterns among differences.
I
Structured differences form information.
Information is what we get when differences are organized into patterns. Order, correlation, and structure are all forms of information.
A
When information refers to itself.
Awareness arises when information is integrated and recursively related to itself. A system becomes aware when it not only carries information, but tracks and updates it.
V
Awareness introduces preference.
Once a system is aware of different possible states, some of those states will be better or worse for its continued existence or stability. This generates value.
M
Value becomes structured and shared.
Meaning is the pattern of value across an informational landscape. It is how a system organizes what matters, for what, and in which contexts.
P
Meaning extended through time.
Purpose is what happens when meaning is stabilized and projected into the future. It is the directed, goal-like structure of a system’s meaningful organization.
2. Expandable details for each stage
You can skim the overviews above and only open the sections that matter to you, or work through the chain in order. The Start here path tells the same story in more narrative form.
1. Δ
Difference
To exist is to differ.
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1. Δ
Difference
To exist is to differ.
Difference is the minimal condition for anything to exist at all. If there were no differences, nothing could be distinguished, related, or known.
Denying difference already presupposes a difference between denial and non-denial. This makes difference the unique, non-derivable ontological primitive.
For a chapter-style treatment of difference, see Dive deeper →.
2. R
Relation
Differences never occur in isolation.
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2. R
Relation
Differences never occur in isolation.
Once you have at least one difference, you immediately have relationships: contrasts, gradients, boundaries, and patterns among differences.
Relation is not something added on top of difference; it is what it means for differences to stand in contrast with one another.
For a chapter-style treatment of relation, see Dive deeper →.
3. I
Information
Structured differences form information.
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3. I
Information
Structured differences form information.
Information is what we get when differences are organized into patterns. Order, correlation, and structure are all forms of information.
On this view, physics itself can be understood as the dynamics of information—structured differences evolving under lawful constraints.
For a chapter-style treatment of information, see Dive deeper →.
4. A
Awareness
When information refers to itself.
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4. A
Awareness
When information refers to itself.
Awareness arises when information is integrated and recursively related to itself. A system becomes aware when it not only carries information, but tracks and updates it.
This is a minimal, structural notion of awareness: no human-level cognition is required. Any system that internally models its own informational state has at least some degree of awareness.
For a chapter-style treatment of awareness, see Dive deeper →.
5. V
Value
Awareness introduces preference.
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5. V
Value
Awareness introduces preference.
Once a system is aware of different possible states, some of those states will be better or worse for its continued existence or stability. This generates value.
Value, in this sense, is not arbitrary or purely subjective. It is awareness applied to possible states, where some outcomes support the system and others undermine it.
For a chapter-style treatment of value, see Dive deeper →.
6. M
Meaning
Value becomes structured and shared.
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6. M
Meaning
Value becomes structured and shared.
Meaning is the pattern of value across an informational landscape. It is how a system organizes what matters, for what, and in which contexts.
Semantic meaning in language, functional meaning in systems, and personal meaning in a life are all special cases of value structured into stable patterns.
For a chapter-style treatment of meaning, see Dive deeper →.
7. P
Purpose
Meaning extended through time.
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7. P
Purpose
Meaning extended through time.
Purpose is what happens when meaning is stabilized and projected into the future. It is the directed, goal-like structure of a system’s meaningful organization.
On this view, purpose is not something mysteriously added to reality. It is the long-term shape of meaning in action: how a system consistently leans toward certain patterns of value.
For a chapter-style treatment of purpose, see Dive deeper →.