Precausal Substrate Theory

Precausal Substrate Theory (PST) proposes that spacetime, causality, matter and the fundamental forces are not the bedrock of reality; they arise from logic alone. The sole primitive and first postulate is property differentiation (P1): the capacity for distinctions to exist at all. It carries an asymmetric vector tension (P2); and when that tension crosses a threshold, modal sublimation (P3) produces instantiated geometry. From these three postulates, together with a few natural mathematical choices and the established methods of noncommutative geometry, PST builds a common foundation beneath general relativity and quantum mechanics, recovers the Standard Model gauge structure and a three-generation count of matter, and yields one forward falsifiable prediction, a Casimir-force correction at submicron separations, together with a derived Higgs self-coupling matching the measured Standard-Model value at one sigma. The deepest implication is also the simplest: the universe exists not because something caused it, but because a reality in which no distinctions are possible is not a reality at all.