Perception is one of the most fundamental yet least understood processes associated with life [[1], [2]]. The physical sciences explain how energy propagates through the physical world; biology explains how organisms respond to stimuli; psychology examines emotions and behavior; and the cognitive sciences investigate the processes of interpretation and knowledge [[3], [4]]. However, these disciplines typically examine perception within their own domains [[5], [6]]. The transition from one level to another is often assumed rather than explicitly explained [[4], [7]]. This paper proposes a unified explanation of how information progresses from physical activation to human interpretation; here, the human being is considered a composition of all known levels of the universe up to the intellectual level.

The theory is based on the proposal that the universe is made of a series of worlds, extending from the unknowable to the unknowable. Between these unknown horizons are the known worlds considered in the present framework: cosmological, physical, biological, psychological, and intellectual. Each higher-level world emerges over and is activated through the reality of the immediately lower world. It remains unknown from what the cosmological world emerges and what higher-level world may eventually emerge over the intellectual world. The human being possesses all these known levels.

The present work approaches perception from a multilevel perspective. The lowest activation considered within the framework is physical activation, which operates through a cosmological substrate. Physical energy is a complex realization of cosmological fields; biological sensation is a complex realization of physical energy; psychological emotion is a complex realization of biological sensation; and intellectual interpretation is a complex realization of psychological emotion. Thus, the higher-level realization does not abolish the lower-level reality but develops over it as a more complex organization. Accordingly, cosmological realities are realized by the elementary physical particle (EPP) as physical energy; physical energies are realized as sensations in biological cell bodies (vegetation stage), biological sensations are realized as emotions in psychological entities (animal stage), and psychological emotions are finally realized as interpretations in the intellectual entity (human stage). A human being contains all these levels, and information reaching the intellectual level passes through all the preceding stages, encountering the capabilities and limitations of each receiving level.

Within this framework, perception is understood not as the passive reception of information but as an active process of acceptance, synchronization, and expression. The model distinguishes between availability and essence and identifies four fundamental constituents of perception—appearance, identity, diversity, and intensity. Appearance and identity together constitute availability, while diversity and intensity constitute essence; availability and essence together form perception. The framework further explains how memory, codes, and the perception chamber contribute to image formation. Memory provides previously internalized relationships, codes determine perceptibility, and the perceived image emerges through the interaction of incoming data with these organizational structures.

The terms existence and entity are often used interchangeably in ordinary language [[8], [9]], but in the present framework, they denote two distinct concepts. An entity is a particular realization, whereas existence is the enabling condition that makes any realization possible. We may speak of the existence of a table, but not of the table of an existence. Existence is therefore the more fundamental and universal term. It is understood as composed of three dimensions: capability, time, and consciousness. These dimensions remain the same in principle across all levels, although their empirical manifestations differ. A full treatment of existence is beyond the scope of the present paper.

Existence is unavoidable in perception, thought, and imagination [[10], [11]]. Even if one imagines that nothing exists, the act of imagining itself exists. Within the present framework, existence becomes operative in different domains; accordingly, we may speak of cosmological, physical, biological, psychological, and intellectual forms of existence.

An entity emerges when a specifically organized corpus is activated by the corresponding level of existence. A lower-level entity may therefore serve as the corpus for the emergence of a higher-level entity. For example, a seed is a physical entity, but from the biological perspective it functions as an organized corpus containing the code required for biological activation. Through germination, biological existence becomes active and the seed develops as a biological entity.

The framework assumes that Nature operates through universally applicable principles rather than independent mechanisms at each level. The differences among cosmological, physical, biological, psychological, and intellectual entities arise from differences in realization, while the underlying organizational principle remains common [[12], [13]]. This principle may be expressed as:

Specifically organized lower-level entity + higher-level existence = higher-level entity, Accordingly:

a) Energy-capable cosmological fields + physical existence = physical entity (energy and mass);

b) Sensation-capable physical energy + biological existence = biological entity (sensation and liveliness);

c) Emotion-capable biological sensations + psychological existence = psychological entity (emotion and temperament);

d) Interpretation-capable psychological emotions + intellectual existence = intellectual entity (interpretation and knowledge).

Thus, an entity at one level may become the corpus for the emergence of an entity at the immediately higher level. The resulting hierarchy is discussed in the following section.

Within the knowable domain, the present framework recognizes five levels of reality: cosmological, physical, biological, psychological, and intellectual. Each level operates within its own frame of reference, possessing its corresponding substance, activations, laws, sciences, and mode of existence [[14], [15]]. None is more real than another, and further levels may exist beyond the presently known range.

As illustrated in Figure 1, these levels form a continuous hierarchy in which each higher-level entity develops over an organized lower-level corpus [[16], [17]] while retaining the lower levels as its substrate. Thus, physical organization develops over the cosmological, biological over the physical, psychological over the biological, and intellectual over the psychological. In the human entity, all five levels remain simultaneously present and active.

The organization and adaptation occurring within these levels are proposed to involve diversification, multiplication, and selection. Darwinian evolution represents the biological manifestation [[18]] of this broader organizational process, which the present framework proposes to operate at every level of reality. Figure 1 illustrates this multilevel organization and the continuity from cosmological foundations to intellectual interpretation.

A human being is a composition of all the lower-level entities. However, each level receives only those activations of the immediately lower level that are compatible with its capabilities. Thus, the physical entity receives energy-capable cosmological fields as physical energy [[19]]; the biological entity receives sensation-capable physical energies as biological sensation [[20]]; the psychological entity receives emotion-capable biological sensations as psychological emotion; and the intellectual entity receives interpretation-capable psychological emotions as intellectual interpretation. Through self-flow (thinking), interpretations may further contribute to the formation of knowledge.

As illustrated in Figure 2, information is therefore not received directly across levels. Cosmological information in the form of modulated fields is received by the physical entity; physical information in the form of modulated energies by the biological entity; biological information in the form of modulated sensations by the psychological entity; and psychological information in the form of modulated emotions by the intellectual entity.

Each lower-level manifestation comprises two inseparable aspects: availability and essence [[21]]. During higher-level inflow (acceptance), availability serves as the carrier and the embedded essence as the rider. During lower-level outflow (expression), their roles are reversed: essence serves as the carrier and the embedded availability as the rider. Thus, the same two aspects participate in acceptance and expression in complementary roles.

Activation includes three processes: inflow (acceptance), self-flow (internal synchronization), and outflow (expression). Each operates through the immediately lower-level substrate: physical activation through cosmological fields, biological activation through physical energy, psychological activation through biological sensation, and intellectual activation through psychological emotion. Self-flow operates internally through previously retained activations and contributes to their synchronization and reorganization.

Figure 1.Multileveluniverse. The figure illustrates the proposed organization of the knowable universe into five nested levels: cosmological, physical, biological, psychological, and intellectual. Each higher-level entity emerges through the activation of an organized lower-level corpus by the corresponding higher-level existence, while simultaneously becoming the corpus for the next higher level. Together, the five levels form a continuous hierarchy linking cosmological reality to human interpretation.

Figure 3 illustrates the complete mechanism of perception. The inflow enters through two complementary structures: DI-AP-IN, AP is embedded with DI and IN, and DI-ID-IN, ID is embedded with DI and IN. Thus, diversity and intensity are already embedded in both incoming structures before they encounter memory.

Figure 3.Mechanism ofmultilevel image formation. The figure presents the proposed mechanism by which incoming activations, memory contributions, and code-filtered structures interact to produce a momentary perceived image. The four constituents—appearance, identity, diversity, and intensity—are temporarily reorganized within the perception chamber before being redistributed to update memory and support expression. The same organizational principle is proposed to operate at every level of the multilevel hierarchy.

Each incoming structure interacts with its corresponding memory chambers. The DI-AP-IN stream is supplemented by the AP-DI and AP-IN memory dyads, while the DI-ID-IN stream is supplemented by the ID-DI and ID-IN memory dyads. In this way, incoming data are enriched by previously established relationships before proceeding further.

The memory-enriched structures then pass through their corresponding code chambers. Until this stage, the incoming lower-level data remain imperceptible at the higher level. The codes provide higher-level perceptibility according to the capabilities and limitations of the receiving entity [[20], [25]].

The resulting perceptible structures enter the perception chamber, where the incoming structures are dismantled. Appearance and identity are released from their relationships with diversity and intensity, making all four constituents—appearance, identity, diversity, and intensity—simultaneously available. They complement one another and organize into a compatible configuration, forming the perceived image [[26]]. Constituents not incorporated into the image remain as possibilities.

The perceived image exists within the present moment. Before this moment, appearance and identity approaching perception lie in the future of the perceived image. After perception, diversity and intensity lie in its past. Thus, the perceived image exists at the transitional point where the incoming future becomes the outgoing past.

For expression, the perceived image is dismantled and restructured into two complementary outflow structures: ID-DI-AP and ID-IN-AP. These structures pass through their corresponding code chambers, where higher-level perceptibility is converted into lower-level executability. The resulting relationships may also be deposited into the corresponding memory chambers before becoming expressed activations. Thus, the same cyclic process that uses previous memories during perception can also modify memory for future perception.

The process does not always require both external inflow and external outflow. When inflow occurs without expression, the resulting relationships may be deposited into memory. When expression occurs without external inflow, the required relationships may be drawn from memory. When neither external inflow nor external outflow occurs, memory serves as both source and destination. This internal cyclic activation is termed self-flow; thinking is an example of intellectual self-flow.

The Memory chambers supply previously established relationships to incoming data, but memory alone cannot create perception. Incoming lower-level activations must also satisfy the limitations imposed by the code chambers. The codes determine which incoming dyadic structures can become perceptible at the corresponding higher level. Thus, not all lower-level activations become higher-level perceptions.

The function of codes may be illustrated by DNA. DNA consists of physical molecular structures, with complementary bases interacting specifically as A-T and G-C [[20], [25], [30]]. Although the bases and their interactions are physical, their organized relationships form the basis for storing and transmitting biological information. Thus, DNA provides an empirical example in which relationships among lower-level physical constituents become biologically informational. Within the present framework, this illustrates how a higher-level perceptibility may be realized through the organized relationships of a lower-level substrate.

In this sense, code represents the realization of the capability dimension of existence within an entity. Its manifestations differ across levels: at the physical level as properties, at the biological level as genetic capabilities, at the psychological level as temperament, and at the intellectual level as intelligence [[20]]. Memory therefore influences the content of perception, whereas codes determine the range within which perception is possible.

Codes perform a complementary function during expression. During acceptance, they enable lower-level activations to become perceptible at the higher level; during expression, they enable higher-level activations to become executable through the lower-level entity. Thus, code chambers mediate both acceptance and expression between immediately adjacent levels.

The perception chamber, shown at the center of Figure 3, forms the central line of the nucleus through which incoming and outgoing structures interact with the written codes. It is the ontological stage at which the four perceptual constituents become simultaneously available and form the perceived image. The chamber is therefore not the memory or the code itself, but the point at which their contributions participate with incoming activation in present perception.

The perceived image exists only within this chamber and within the present moment. It is neither received as a ready-made image nor retained as a complete image after perception. The continuous interaction of appearance, identity, diversity, and intensity within this momentary stage generates the perceived information [[31]].

The present study sought to develop a common conceptual framework capable of explaining perception across cosmological, physical, biological, psychological, and intellectual levels. The resulting framework provides a continuous organizational route through which information is progressively realized at successive levels, while each higher-level perception remains dependent on the immediately lower-level substrate.

The analysis identifies appearance, identity, diversity, and intensity as four common constituents through which this continuity can be represented. Their relational organization provides a common basis for explaining the perceptual process, while their different empirical manifestations allow each level to retain its own substance, activation, and mode of existence. The framework thereby provides a way of describing continuity across levels without reducing one level to another.

The study further distinguishes the functions required for perception. Memory preserves previously established dyadic relationships and contributes them to subsequent perception; codes determine the limits within which lower-level activations become perceptible at the higher level; and the perception chamber provides the present-moment stage in which the four constituents interact to form the perceived image. The perceived image is therefore reconstructed rather than retrieved as a complete stored image. This also explains how previous experience can facilitate recognition while simultaneously contributing to perceptual differences and distortions.

The framework also establishes perception as a continuous cyclic process rather than an isolated act of reception. External inflow, internal self-flow through memory, present-moment image formation, memory updating, and expression participate in the continuing organization of the entity. Consequently, the same external activation need not produce an identical perceived image in different entities, because perception depends upon both incoming activation and the previously organized memory and code structures of the perceiving entity.

The principal contribution of the framework is therefore a common ontological mechanism for describing how lower-level activation becomes higher-level perception without requiring direct contact between non-adjacent levels. Its propositions concerning successive perceptibility, relational memory, code-dependent capability, and reconstructive image formation provide identifiable conditions that may be examined and challenged empirically. The framework should therefore be regarded not as a completed account of perception, but as a testable conceptual basis for investigating how different entities can construct different perceived realities from a common external reality.

During the preparation of this manuscript, the author used ChatGPT strictly to refine the language expression, improve overall text flow, and check the structural clarity of the manuscript. The author independently reviewed and edited all suggestions and remains fully responsible and accountable for the final content of the publication.

The author, Pramod Kumar Agrawal, is the sole author of this manuscript. He was entirely responsible for the conceptualization, development of the ontological framework, theoretical modeling, literature review, drafting of the manuscript text, and the structural creation of all vector artwork and illustrations. The author has read, verified, and approved the final version of the submitted manuscript.