Constructor Theory

What if physics asked the wrong question?

Traditional physics asks: "Given these initial conditions, what happens next?" Constructor theory asks something different: "What transformations are possible, and what makes them possible?"

David Deutsch and Chiara Marletto developed constructor theory as a new foundation for physics—one that puts possibility and impossibility at the center rather than prediction and dynamics. A constructor is anything that can cause a transformation and remain unchanged, ready to cause it again. Your cells are constructors. Your nervous system is a constructor. You are a constructor.

This shift in framing has profound implications for understanding coherence, meaning, and what it takes for systems to persist.

Why This Matters for Coherence

Constructor theory provides a different angle on coherence: instead of asking "how does this system behave?" it asks "what can this system do, and what enables it to keep doing it?"

A coherent system is one that can reliably perform its characteristic transformations. Trauma isn't just a state—it's a reduction in what transformations remain possible. Healing isn't just feeling better—it's restoring constructor capacity. Meaning isn't just subjective experience—it's the set of counterfactual possibilities your existence enables.

This framework connects to AToM by providing the vocabulary for discussing possibility space, counterfactuals, and what it means for a system to maintain itself as a reliable cause of specific effects.

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What Physics Can't Tell Psychology (And What It Can)

Manifolds, curvature, topology—physics offers powerful tools for psychology. But minds lack exact symmetries, universality, and determinism. The geometry is real but different.

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Constructor Theory: Reframing Everything as "What Transformations Are Possible?"

David Deutsch's constructor theory reframes reality: instead of predicting what happens, ask what transformations are possible. A foundational shift from trajectories to possibilities that reveals how information, knowledge, and coherence work.

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You Are a Constructor: The Task Your Nervous System Performs

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Counterfactuals and Possibility Space: The Geometry of "What Could Happen"

Possibility has geometry. The structure of what could happen—not just what did—determines meaning, agency, and hope. Learn how counterfactuals shape your lived experience and why accessibility matters more than actuality.

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Why This Isn't Metaphor: The Mathematical Architecture Beneath Meaning

Beliefs form probability distributions with measurable geometry. Information manifolds aren't metaphors—they're the actual mathematical architecture of meaning, testable and falsifiable.

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The Hydrogen Anchor Revisited: From Atoms to Coherence in One Geometric Principle

Structural coherence as a universal principle: from the hydrogen atom's barbell geometry to neural oscillations, psychological integration, and cultural persistence.

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