The Physics of Agency, Part 8: Meaning, Ethics, and Evolution Under the Physics of Agency
Living in a Universe Where Agency is Real and Costly
Meaning, Ethics, and Evolution Under the Physics of Agency
Having established our foundational framework:
Agency is real.
Agency is costly.
Agency shapes the multiverse.
—we now face a deeper question:
What does this mean for how we live?
Meaning in the Physics of Agency
In a multiverse where all outcomes occur, meaning arises from intentional measure shaping.
Your internal predictive models, your care, and your energy investments enlarge certain futures—and certain versions of yourself.
Choosing intentionally, even in small ways, produces real, physically measurable effects across branching futures.
Meaning is not externally imposed.
Meaning is the structure you carve into the distribution of measure through your intentional actions.
Ethics in the Physics of Agency
If agency shapes the future, ethics becomes:
Not abstract rules,
Not divine commands,
But the physics of measure amplification.
Good actions amplify desirable futures for yourself and others.
Other agents also exercise agency, so:
Helping others maintain their capacity for intentional action,
Amplifies branches where agency, creativity, and life flourish.
From this perspective:
Generosity amplifies futures of abundance.
Honesty amplifies futures of trust.
Courage amplifies futures in which intentional action resists drift.
Ethics becomes the physics of future-shaping at scale.
Evolution in the Physics of Agency
Natural selection shapes life to:
Harvest free energy.
Build more accurate internal predictive models.
Increase capacity for intentional action.
Evolution can be viewed as the universe's mechanism for developing agents increasingly effective at resisting entropic drift.
From this perspective:
Survival is about preserving the capacity to exercise kybits.
Intelligence maximizes the efficiency of shaping futures per unit of energy.
Progress expands the scope, depth, and sustainability of agency.
Evolution is a thermodynamic arms race for control of the future.
Final Reflection
In the Physics of Agency:
Every intentional act matters.
Every careful investment shapes measure.
Every genuine act of agency sculpts the multiverse.
You are neither powerless nor irrelevant. You are a thermodynamic agent, sculpting the flow of possible worlds.
Your intentional actions resonate within the structure of reality itself.
And that—against the relentless tide of entropy—is meaning worth pursuing.
Where We're Headed
In the next post, we'll address common questions and critiques of this framework. We'll confront difficult challenges and demonstrate the robustness of the Physics of Agency.
Reflective Question
If your actions amplify certain quantum branches, do you bear ethical responsibility toward alternate versions of yourself in other timelines—and if so, how might this affect your decisions?
(Please share your reflections in the comments.)
Next post: "Challenges and FAQs in the Physics of Agency"