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Unity 3.0 - Part 5: The Circular Economy of the Universe

A Persistent Self-Organizing System through Entropy Circulation

by Dr. Hiroshi Okamoto

Chair of CIGRE Japan

Author's note:

This paper presents a cosmological framework that reinterprets the universe as a circular economy of entropy and negentropy. Building upon Schrödinger's insights into life's negentropy consumption and Penrose's cyclic cosmology, we propose a three-layer model (WST-WEB-WGE) that offers new perspectives on sustainable energy systems and consciousness-technology integration with our MESH concept.

Prologue: Two Revolutionary Whispers from the Cosmos

There are two profound scientific hypotheses that have fundamentally transformed our modern understanding of the universe—not through thunderous proclamations, but through gentle revelations that reality operates on principles far more elegant than we dared imagine.

Schrödinger's Discovery (1944) [1]

In his luminous work 'What is Life?', physicist Erwin Schrödinger unveiled one of nature's most beautiful paradoxes:

"Life feeds on negative entropy (negentropy)."

While ordinary physical systems drift inexorably toward disorder—like sand castles dissolving into the sea—life somehow maintains its intricate architecture and creates ever more complex and beautiful forms. Schrödinger's insight was that life achieves this miracle by drinking "negative entropy" from its surroundings, like a flower drinking light from the sun.

Penrose's Discovery (Nobel Prize 2020) [2]

Seventy-six years later, Dr. Roger Penrose offered a revolutionary vision of cosmic architecture:

"The end of the universe is the beginning of a new universe."

Where conventional cosmology sees the universe marching toward a cold, entropic death—a final thermal equilibrium—Penrose's Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC) reveals a different truth. When entropy reaches its maximum, only massless particles like photons remain, dancing at the speed of light in a realm where time and space lose their meaning. In this luminous void, entropy resets to zero, and a new universe is born from the ashes of the old.

The Sacred Connection Between Two Discoveries

Schrödinger's question: "Why can only life defy the laws of physics to maintain order?"
Penrose's answer: "Because the entire universe is equipped to reset entropy."

In other words, life's negentropy and the universe's cyclic structure were expressions of the same fundamental principle operating at different scales—a cosmic heartbeat that pulses from the cellular to the celestial.

However, while Penrose's CCC envisions discrete cosmic reboots—the whole universe dying and being reborn—Unity 3.0 proposes something more elegant: continuous circulation. Through our three-layer structure of WST (spaceless source), WEB (relational transformation), and WGE (geometric manifestation), entropy and order flow in an eternal dance, like breathing that never stops.

The universe does not die and resurrect. It dreams and awakens, perpetually.

A New Vision of the Universe: Ichigo-Daifuku Cosmology

The Unity 3.0 hypothesis can be visualized through the beloved Japanese confection, Ichigo-Daifuku—a fresh strawberry wrapped in red bean paste and enveloped by soft, white mochi. This humble sweet reveals the triadic structure of modes of energy being:

WST-MEB (Mochi Layer): Without Space-Time—Mode of Energy Being
The soft, formless outer layer represents pure potentiality—a realm of infinite possibilities existing beyond the constraints of geometry and temporality. This is what physics calls Dark Energy: the invisible ocean from which all structure emerges.

WEB-MEB (Anko Layer): With Entangled Bridging—Mode of Energy Being
The red bean paste serves as the relational buffer—a memory-rich medium where observation, intention, and history weave the bridge between potential and manifestation. This corresponds to Dark Matter: not empty space, but the universe's capacity for relationship and transformation.

WGE-MEB (Ichigo Layer): With Geometric Extension—Mode of Energy Being
The strawberry at the center represents our manifest physical world—matter, spacetime, biology, consciousness, civilization. This is the only layer we normally perceive, yet it exists only through its embedding in the deeper layers.

Figure 1 - A three-layered structure of mode of energy being (MEB) model, which resembles a strawberry daifuku

Crucially, these layers interpenetrate rather than separate. The strawberry touches the paste; the paste is embraced by the mochi. Similarly, spacetime (WGE) is held within relational entanglements (WEB), which emerge from the invisible sea of potentiality (WST).

This three-layer circulation model leads us to view the universe itself as a single Cosmic Operating System—where WST functions as the data space of potential, WEB functions as a Quantum Non-Deterministic Turing Machine (QNTM) — a computational model allowing superposed potential outcomes, resolved through coherence-based ethical selection — performing evolutionary computation under ethical constraints, mediating the flow from WST to WGE. WGE functions as the 4-D user interface handling physical reality.

The Universe's Entropy Circulation System

The Cosmic Breath: Inhaling Disorder, Exhaling Beauty

1. The Recovery Process (WGE → WST)

According to causality in the WGE layer, entropy always increases—this is the second law of thermodynamics. When entropy accumulates locally, the material universe recycles this high-entropy information through black holes. These cosmic recycling centers integrate and transform the information in the WEB layer, returning it to the WST layer in a zero-entropy state.

Black holes are not destroyers but gardeners, composting the universe's spent possibilities into fresh potential.

2. The Regeneration Process (WST → WGE)

From the infinite possibilities of the WST layer, specific structures are selected and designed in the WEB layer, then manifested as new order in the WGE layer. Negentropy—the stuff that makes life possible—flows through this regenerative process.

This circulation allows the universe to avoid thermal death while dynamically managing entropy, utilizing finite energy in an infinite dance of creation and renewal.

Figure 2 - Concept of energy circulation in the three-layer model

Microtubules: Biology's Entropy Regulation Devices

Cellular White Holes: Where Cosmic Order Enters Life

The microtubules within our cells function as biological white holes—miniature gateways through which negentropy flows directly from the WST layer. This may be how life has maintained order and continued evolving for 4 billion years.

While Penrose and Hameroff's Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch OR) theory suggests that quantum consciousness arises in brain microtubules, all eukaryotic cells possess these structures. Every organism with microtubules may be a terminal connected to WST through WEB, receiving the cosmic negentropy that distinguishes life from mere matter.

Figure 3 - Three-Layer Circulation Model and Microtubule Function

Falsifiable Hypothesis: The quantum coherence properties of microtubules should differ measurably between healthy and diseased tissues, and meditation practices should correlate with enhanced microtubule coherence.

Consciousness: The Universe's Quality Control System

From Anthropic Principle to Cosmic Participation Principle

When we consider the universe's cyclical structure and consciousness's role within it, we must reexamine the Anthropic Principle. Originally formulated as the Weak Anthropic Principle (WAP)—we can observe the universe because we exist where conditions permit observation—and later as the Strong Anthropic Principle (SAP)—the universe appears designed to produce intelligent life.

Unity 3.0 proposes a third understanding: the Cosmic Participation Principle.

We are not passive observers but active participants in cosmic evolution.

Observation here means more than "collapsing" quantum wavefunctions. It is a process where the quality of our ethical intentions and relationships manifests as reality itself. Each choice we make influences the quality of the cosmic cycle.

Beyond Many-Worlds: The Infinite Possibility Universe Interpretation (IPUI)

The conventional Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) of quantum physics, where "the universe branches at each observation," faces a serious challenge from energy conservation. If countless branching universes each possess physical reality, where does the energy for infinite universes come from?

Unity 3.0's Infinite Possibility Universe Interpretation (IPUI) offers a more elegant solution: only one reality manifests through collective consciousness choosing from infinite possibilities in the WST layer. Energy conservation remains intact, while consciousness becomes a creative force in cosmic evolution.

This reveals a dynamic, participatory universe where the quality of consciousness influences the universe's evolution trajectory.

"We are not the universe's center, but its nervous system—
the means by which the cosmos learns to know and transform itself."

MESH as a Negentropy Flow Management System

Connection to the MESH Concept

The MESH (Machine-learning Energy System Holistic) concept [6] represents Unity 3.0's terrestrial implementation:

  • Energy (Watts) circulation: Mimicking cosmic entropy management
  • Information (Bits) circulation: Mimicking information flow between cosmic layers

Paradigm Transformation

Conventional Model: Take → Make → Dispose (linear entropy increase)
Cosmic Model: Dynamic equilibrium and evolution through energy-information cycles

Based on this cosmological vision, human activity can be redesigned as part of permanent self-organization rather than temporary consumption.

From Variable Renewable Energy to Cosmic Energy Circulation

The MESH (Machine-learning Energy System Holistic) concept represents more than a technical solution to renewable energy integration—it embodies Unity 3.0's terrestrial implementation of cosmic entropy circulation principles.

Reframing Renewable Energy Variability

Traditional grid management views renewable energy variability as a technical challenge requiring "smoothing" through storage and backup generation. Unity 3.0 offers a fundamentally different perspective: renewable energy fluctuations are expressions of negentropy flows from the WST layer, manifesting through natural self-organizing processes. For example, solar radiation can be seen as ordered energy flow as follows,

  • The sun represents a low-entropy energy source delivering structured information to Earth
  • Daily and seasonal variations reflect the geometric harmony of planetary motion Cloud-induced fluctuations represent atmospheric information processing
  • Rather than noise to be eliminated, these patterns contain cosmic organizational principles

MESH as a Breathing Energy System

Instead of flattening renewable energy variability, MESH orchestrates it as a "breathing" system that mirrors natural rhythms as shown in Fig. 4:

Morning Solar Awakening represents a daily manifestation of cosmic negentropy flow, where sunrise initiates regional energy awakening, solar ramp-up synchronizes community activities, and distributed generation activates collective consciousness.

This approach transforms the electrical grid from a mechanical system into a living organism—a technological expression of the universe's fundamental tendency toward self-organization and negentropy generation. Through MESH, human civilization begins to participate consciously in cosmic energy circulation, creating infrastructure that serves not just our material needs but our evolution as cosmic participants.

The result is not merely sustainable energy, but regenerative energy—systems that enhance the vitality of both human communities and the natural systems that sustain them.

Figure 4 - MESH Concept as a Living Grid [6]

Conclusion: "En(縁)=En(円)(Karma is a circle.)"

In Eastern thought, it is expressed as "karma is a circle." The entropic cycle of the universe is the root of all relationships and creation and represents the grand law of circulation in which individual actions and the evolution of the entire universe are connected (Okamoto, 2025) [8].

The principle of En(縁)=En(円) - where relationships (縁) form circular (円) patterns of mutual causation - provides both philosophical foundation and practical guidance for designing energy systems that mirror cosmic harmony.

We are "conscious" participants in that cycle, and we have the responsibility and joy of determining the quality of the next order through our choices and actions.

Falsifiability Framework

Level 1 (Directly Testable):

  • Quantum coherence in microtubules
  • Correlation between meditation and neural coherence
  • Smart meter patterns reflecting health states

Level 2 (Observable Phenomena):

  • Efficiency gains in circular vs. linear economic models
  • Consciousness-technology interface measurements
  • Collective decision-making effects on system outcomes

Level 3 (Philosophical Framework):

  • The three-layer cosmic structure remains a guiding metaphor open to refinement as our understanding evolves

"These insights are both poetry and hypothesis. But poetry, too, is a method of approaching cosmic truth. Science measures, philosophy thinks, poetry resonates. Unity 3.0 attempts the harmony of all three. We acknowledge that the deepest truths of the 'True Self' may ultimately transcend scientific methodology. Yet we believe that science, when guided by ethical observation and universal compassion, can serve as a bridge toward such transcendent understanding."

References

  1. Schrödinger, Erwin. (1944) What is Life? Cambridge University Press
  2. Penrose, Roger. (2010) Cycles of Time. Jonathan Cape
  3. Hameroff, S. & Penrose, R. (2014) "Consciousness in the universe: A review of the ‘Orch OR’ theory" Physics of Life Reviews
  4. Everett, H. (1957) “‘Relative State’ Formulation of Quantum Mechanics,” Reviews of Modern Physics, 29(3), 454–462.
  5. Okamoto, H.(2025) "Unity 3.0 - Part 2: The Cosmic Operating System and Energy's Fundamental Role," CIGRE ELECTRA N.340
  6. Okamoto, H. "Watts & Bits: How Power Grids and Cloud Computing Are Working Together to Implement Utility 3.0 Through Electro-Cyber Integration," CIGRE ELECTRA N.335
  7. Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2013) Towards the Circular Economy
  8. Okamoto, H.(2025) "Unity 3.0: Beyond Utility 3.0 Boundaries," CIGRE ELECTRA N.339

Unity 3.0 article series

Global Connections

Global Connections Section includes invited articles and interviews along with CIGRE articles to broaden global power system expertise. Invited authors and interviews approved by the Electra Editorial Board may express opinions solely their own.

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