Coherence as Primary: An Integrated Framework for Physics, Consciousness, and System Design

This paper proposes a fundamental ontological inversion: coherence, not entropy, is the baseline condition of reality. The mechanism is self-reference—formalized through complex Ginzburg-Landau dynamics with conjugate self-coupling (ηC*), where phase-dependent feedback generates differentiation from uniformity above a critical threshold. The framework reinterprets the Second Law without violating it: entropy is the cost-trace of coherence expressing itself, not evidence of universal decay. It reframes the hard problem of consciousness as dual-aspect monism: matter is coherence viewed externally; consciousness is coherence viewed internally. The paper includes computational validation, a measurable order parameter connecting ontology to observation, five testable predictions, and three explicit falsifiers. A detailed experimental protocol tests whether AI design choices (coherence-supporting vs. confidence-optimized) produce measurable physiological differences in human users.