Truth Reconciled

The following is a true and assumption-free explanation for the existence of the physical universe. It is presented step-by-step for maximum clarity. Can you find a hole in the logic?

1. The Goal: We require a true and assumption-free explanation for physical existence.
2. The Tautology Requirement: The only way to provide a true and assumption-free explanation is to ensure that the explanation is a logical tautology, or in other words, a logical statement that is intrinsically and absolutely true in all possible cases. (An example of such a statement is the syllogism.)
3. The Definition Requirement: It is impossible to provide a definite answer to a question that is not defined, so physical existence cannot be properly explained unless it is defined.
4. The Circular Definition: The only way to ensure that the explanation is a tautology is to use a circular definition of physical existence, as any alternative definition would necessarily be assuming something about the nature of physical existence. In short, an entity exists physically if it exists physically.
5. Indeterminacy: Although necessary, the circular definition of physical existence makes it impossible to determine upfront if any possible entity actually exists. It does not tell us anything about what attributes qualify an entity for physical existence. So far, existence is indeterminate.
6. The Totalitarian Principle: The tautological totalitarian principle can be stated as follows: if B exists, then A exists if and only if the existence of A doesn’t contradict the existence of B. This statement is a logical tautology, true in all possible cases. Therefore, it compels the existence of anything that is compatible with whatever already exists. Note that we don’t know what already exists, and we haven’t assumed the existence of anything, but the logic still holds.
7. Contingent Existence: The existence of any possible entity (anything that is not inherently a logical contradiction) is currently indeterminate due to the circular definition. But it is now additionally contingent upon passing the test of compatibility with all other existing entities, if there are any. We can call this “contingent existence.”
8. The Compatibility Test: All possible entities obtain the status of contingent existence. In order to qualify for existence, the contingent entities must pass the test of compatibility. We cannot currently say what exists, but we know that whatever can exist is necessarily a subset of all the contingent entities. Therefore, if an entity is compatible with all the contingent entities, then it exists.
9. Elimination: Many contingent entities contradict one another. These fail the test of compatibility and are eliminated from consideration.
10. Randomness: It may be that every possible entity has an opposite, and thus everything will cancel out to nothing. There is one way out of this nullifying cancellation. An entity that can randomly manifest or fail to manifest in the space of contingent existence permits an unbalanced cancellation of opposite entities. If an entity randomly manifests while its opposite does not, then the entity will achieve existence without being contradicted. We will not assume randomness, but we will accept it as a coherent possibility. Since all possible entities are considered for contingent existence, entities with the property of randomness are necessarily included. The entities remaining after the first cancellation are the primordial substance of the physical universe.
11. Iterative Calculation: The totalitarian principle requires us to continue testing all possible entities again and again, because any entity found to be consistent with whatever already exists must necessarily exist. This becomes an endless, ordered, logical calculation of consistent existence.
12. Spacetime: The logical/mathematical calculation of existence takes the form of an ordered network of entities connected through logical operations. The order of the calculation is the origin of time. The relationships between the entities form the fabric of space. When parameterized with a coordinate system, this network of entities can be shown to exhibit the properties of spacetime, namely, causality and Special Relativity.
13. Energy: Entities or groups of entities that demonstrate stability through the successive steps of time become the matter/energy of the universe.

Starting from an intrinsically true foundation with no unfounded assumptions, we have derived a physically existing universe with all the attributes that we expect.