I Cosmology Without Origin: 2 System as Theory of Instance at Cosmic Scale

Having dissolved the illusion of a first event, we must now reorient our thinking to the structure of cosmic potentials themselves. In relational ontology, a “system” is not a collection of things in space or time; it is a theory of instances—a structured set of possibilities awaiting actualisation.

At the cosmic scale, this means the universe is not a container for matter and energy, nor a temporal stage on which events play out. It is a field of relational potentials, intelligible only through the cuts we apply to distinguish and articulate them.

Potential Without Substrate

Consider this: cosmic potentials do not require a substrate. They exist as relational configurations, not as objects embedded in space or matter. Each potential is a structured node of possibility, awaiting conditions under which it can be actualised.

In this framework, the Big Bang is no longer a literal origin. It is a perspectival anchor—a cut through the network of possibilities that allows a system (ours) to articulate itself. It is actualisation, not genesis. The universe does not begin; it becomes intelligible through the application of perspective.

Implications for Cosmology

By treating the universe as a system of potentials:

• “Events” are instances of relational distinction, not temporal happenings.

• “Sequences” emerge from cuts applied to structured potentials, not from inherent chronology.

• “Physical laws” are patterns of intelligibility, not primitive rules imposed upon pre-existing matter.

In short, cosmology can be understood without appealing to beginnings, substrates, or linear causality. We see instead a continuous field of relational potentials, actualised perspectivally, which forms the true canvas of the cosmos.