An Unobserved Informational Reservoir: A Hypothesis for the Stability and Functional Directionality of Living Systems

The emergence and persistence of life pose a profound paradox. Statistical estimates of abiogenesis under standard prebiotic models yield extremely low probabilities (10⁻⁷⁸–10⁻¹⁰⁰), although such values are strongly model‑dependent and do not constitute evidence against naturalistic origins. Rather, they highlight a gap between current physical chemistry and the observed robustness of biological organization. Here we propose that both phenomena can be explained by the action of a hitherto unobserved informational reservoir that subtly “leaks” into biological systems, biasing microstate probabilities in real time. While quantum coherence and nonlocality currently represent the most plausible physical substrates, the hypothesis deliberately remains agnostic about the ultimate origin of this reservoir. Crucially, the transfer need not be intentional; it may constitute an unintended “crosstalk” across an ontological boundary—analogous to sound leaking through a wall between apartments. This framework offers a strictly naturalistic alternative to intelligent design theories while generating falsifiable predictions distinguishable from both pure chance and directed panspermia.