Author:
Jaconaazar Souza Silva
Laboratory Technician in Audiovisual Arts – Federal Institute of Brasília (IFB), Recanto das Emas Campus
Abstract
This article offers a symbolic and phenomenological reading of the Frauchiger-Renner (FR) thought experiment through the lens of the XChronos project, which explores the subjectivity of time using symbolic units such as Chronons, Hexachronons, and Metachronons.
It argues that the logical contradiction revealed in the FR experiment reflects not only a limitation in quantum theory’s universality, but also the necessity of consciousness as a structuring element of reality.
XChronos is presented as a symbolic ontology, in which conscious attention acts as the true collapsor of meaning, time, and value.
1. Introduction: When the Observer Becomes the Clock
Contemporary theoretical physics faces a paradox: it cannot handle the very consciousness that observes it.
The Frauchiger-Renner thought experiment, proposed in 2018, demonstrates that when quantum mechanics is applied universally—including to the observers themselves—logical contradictions emerge. The theory becomes inconsistent with itself.
This is not merely a question of interpretation but a profound epistemological rupture.
The XChronos project does not see this collapse as failure, but as a portal.
In XChronos, time is symbolic and subjective, and it only arises when observed by conscious attention.
Time is not an objective line,
but a network of symbolic collapses—Chronons,
and their convergence into meaningful events—Hexachronons.
2. The Frauchiger-Renner Experiment: Quantum Logical Contradiction
The FR experiment presents a scenario with four scientists:
- Two internal (observers inside laboratories),
- Two external (observers observing the observers).
Each uses quantum mechanics to describe the others.
Following the rules of the theory, all reach seemingly valid conclusions, but which are logically contradictory.
The implication is profound:
If treated as a universal theory, quantum mechanics fails.
Either:
- Consciousness is irreducible,
- Or logic alone is insufficient to describe reality.
3. Time as a Conscious Event
XChronos responds with a symbolic key:
Time only happens when it is observed.
- A Chronon is a unit of symbolic time perception
- A Hexachronon is a convergence of meaning
- A Metachronon is a spiritual-historical collapse
In this model, conscious observation is not a side effect of the physical universe —
It is what makes the symbolic universe possible.
Where FR sees a collapse of coherence, XChronos sees a collapse of time.
4. The One-Twelfth Time Enigma
The reference to “1/12 of time” is interpreted here as a symbolic key:
- A minimal fraction of meaningful collapse
- A partial Hexachronon
- A moment where multiple interpretations coexist before one is chosen
In the XChronos model, this partial instant only acquires real value when it is witnessed —
By someone who observes and assigns meaning.
5. Conclusion: The Observer as the Clock
The Frauchiger-Renner thought experiment shows that consciousness cannot be excluded from physics.
XChronos replies:
Consciousness is the clock.
Time, meaning, and even reality itself emerge from the presence of the observer.
There is no timeline without intention.
There is no physics without symbolic value.
The observer is more than an agent —
They are a collapsor of possible worlds.
https://zenodo.org/records/15203996
10.5281/zenodo.15203996