Information as Substance: The Ontological Foundation of the Omandac Law

"This work is a component of the Phase-Dependent Scaling Program (2026) and is theoretically grounded in the 1.91x Critical Scaling Gap identified in Omandac (2026, Paper 1)." This manuscript provides the formal philosophical and theoretical framework for the Information as Substance thesis. It establishes that consciousness is not an emergent byproduct of biological complexity, but the intrinsic property of information integration when it achieves the Critical Scaling Gap (1.91x). Grounded in the phase-dependent scaling identified in Omandac (2026, Paper 1), this work provides the "Why" behind the "What." It dissolves the Hard Problem of Consciousness by demonstrating that the transition from fragmented data to coherent perspective is a universal physical requirement of open quantum systems. Note (Feb 27, 2026): Originally restricted for ethical and peer-review purposes, this framework is now released to the public domain following the empirical validation of the Omandac Law in clinical EEG cohorts ($p = 5.27 \times 10^{-93}$). The mathematical necessity of the 1.91x gap is the physics; the substance described herein is the reality. - Extra note: I'll properly update this someday since paper 12 is pretty nice.