Genesis of Distinction
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) January 12, 2026 Michele Parisi
This paper argues that 'distinction' is the fundamental cognitive and ontological operation from which both reality and formal systems arise. Drawing on John Wheeler's 'It from Bit' paradigm, mathematical constructivism (Von Neumann ordinals, Dedekind cuts), and Niklas Luhmann's systems theory, the author proposes that material reality derives from binary informational processes and that number systems are recursive operations originating from an empty set, analogous to non-dual consciousness. The work contends that consciousness self-founds by splitting into observer and observed, and that the universe is an ongoing recursive dialogue of question-and-answer interactions, challenging traditional realism with a 'participatory epistemology' where mathematics is the formal language of distinction.