The cosmic language - From Zygote to Word

Abstract:

This paper proposes a unifying theoretical framework linking physical, biological, and cognitive systems through a single organizational operation: Cosmic Language: a universal differentiation principle. This principle describes how stable distinctions emerge from undifferentiated potentials. It appears in physics through symmetry-breaking, in biology through cell division and epigenetic differentiation, and in cognition through the emergence of symbolic language.The hypothesis presented here suggests that human language is not an isolated evolutionary innovation but a high-level manifestation of a more fundamental informational mechanism already active in the zygote. This mechanism organizes biological structure through differentiation and later reappears at the conceptual level as linguistic categorization.

1. Introduction

Embryo, human internal structure, endoscopy

Traditional linguistic theories describe language as arising from neural specialization (Deacon 1997), social coordination (Tomasello 2008), or evolutionary pressures for communication (Pinker 1994). While these frameworks explain aspects of linguistic complexity, they assume that language emerges only once a sufficiently advanced neural architecture exists.

This paper proposes a different view:Language is the late, symbolic expression of an underlying differentiation mechanism present throughout the organization of life. This is not a claim that the zygote “possesses language,” nor that biological signaling is “metaphoric speech.” Instead, it is a structural hypothesis:

The informational principle that allows language to form distinctions also organizes biological development.The human linguistic system is the highest abstraction of this universal mechanism.

To establish this, we examine three domains:

1. Physics: differentiation through symmetry-breaking and boundary formation

2. Biology: differentiation through cell division and epigenetic patterning

3. Cognition: differentiation through conceptual and linguistic structures

2. The Differentiation Principle in Physics

2.1 Symmetry breaking

Physical systems often begin in a high-symmetry state and transition into structured forms once symmetry breaks. This is well established in:

• Quantum field theory (Anderson 1972)

• Phase transitions (Stanley 1971)

• The Higgs mechanism (Higgs 1964)

A symmetry-broken state produces distinct entities where previously only undifferentiated fields existed.In informational terms (Landauer 1991), each new distinction corresponds to a unit of information.

2.2 Boundary formation as information generation

Prigogine (1977) showed that far-from-equilibrium systems self-organize into patterned structures. Turing (1952) demonstrated mathematically how reaction-diffusion systems generate spatial differentiation. Across these domains, the pattern is constant:

1. High-potential, low-differentiation state

2. Boundary formation

3. Emergence of stable “entities”

This principle is not semantic. It is organizational.It determines how systems move from undifferentiated possibility to structured reality.

3. The Zygote as a Biological Expression of the Differentiation Principle

3.1 The zygote as a high-potential informational state

A zygote (zygote) contains:

• A complete diploid genome (Watson & Crick 1953)

• Regulatory networks that prefigure all future cellular decisions (Davidson 2006)

• Capacity for indefinite differentiation (Totipotency)

In terms of information theory: The zygote is a maximal latent differentiation state, a biological analogue of a high-symmetry physical system.

3.2 Cell division as discrete informational partitioning

Each cell division introduces:

• A new membrane boundary

• Different micro-environments

• Distinct molecular states

This aligns with the work of Gilbert (2006) on developmental biology:Division is not merely replication; it is a step-wise informational divergence.

3.3 Epigenetics as the closure of potential

Epigenetic mechanisms (Bird 2007; Allis & Jenuwein 2016) regulate:

• DNA methylation

• Histone modification

• Chromatin accessibility

These mechanisms restrict the set of possibilities available to each cell.They form the biological equivalent of “syntactic constraints” — not metaphorically, but structurally:

• A pluripotent state = many potential interpretations

• A differentiated cell = settled structure consistent across time

This is analogous to moving from an undifferentiated linguistic space to a stable semantic assignment.

3.4 Biological communication as systemic information flow

Cells communicate through:

• Chemical gradients

• Hormonal signals

• Neural firing

• Immune-system antigen recognition

These systems perform operations that in information theory correspond to:

• Signal detection

• Error correction

• Context-dependent regulation

These are foundational informational processes that later expand—at higher levels—into linguistic operations.

4. From Biological Differentiation to Cognitive Differentiation

4.1 Concept formation as high-level differentiation

Research in cognitive science (Rosch 1975; Lakoff 1987) shows that human minds form concepts by creating boundaries within perceptual continua.This mirrors the earlier biological principle.

A concept is stabilized differentiation:

• “red” versus “blue”

• “self” versus “other”

• “object” versus “background”

4.2 The rise of symbolic reference

Deacon (1997) demonstrated that symbolic reference requires a system capable of:

• Distinguishing relations

• Maintaining stable categories

• Linking arbitrary signs to conceptual boundaries

This “symbolic capacity” is the mental analogue of epigenetic stabilization:both are operations that constrain a high-dimensional potential space.

5. Human Language as the Highest Abstraction of the Differentiation Principle

Linguistic systems create:

• Phonemic partitions (Jakobson 1956)

• Grammatical categories

• Hierarchical syntax (Chomsky 1995)

• Semantic networks

• Narrative structures

Every one of these systems operates through structured differentiation:

• A phoneme is defined by a boundary in acoustic space

• A syntactic category is defined by constraints on combinability

• A word is defined through its contrast with other words

The same universal operation observed in physics and biology appears again, fully abstracted.

Language does not “arise suddenly.”It inherits an informational architecture already present in the zygote and throughout biological organization.

6. The Hypothesis (Formal Statement)

Universal Differentiation Hypothesis (UDH): A single organizational mechanism—structured differentiation—governs the formation of stable units of information across physical, biological, and cognitive domains. Human language is the apex of this mechanism, representing its symbolic and conceptual elaboration.

7. Discussion and Implications

7.1 Continuity across domains

The hypothesis does not claim identity between biological and linguistic processes.

It claims structural continuity:

• Physics: boundaries create particles

• Biology: boundaries create cells and tissues

• Cognition: boundaries create concepts

• Language: boundaries create meaning

7.2 Why this matters for linguistics

Language is not an outlier.It is the top of a long developmental ladder of informational organization.

7.3 Why this matters for biology

It positions development not as a purely chemical process, but as an informational architecture.

7.4 Why this matters for philosophy of mind

It allows for a naturalistic explanation of how symbolic systems emerge without invoking metaphysical discontinuities.

8. Conclusion

Human language is comprehensible when seen as the ultimate expression of a universal informational process that starts at fertilization. The zygote embodies this principle biologically. Differentiating tissues embody it structurally. Neural architectures embody it dynamically. Language embodies it symbolically. This creates a seamless picture: the principle that organizes the universe also organizes the body, and the same principle that organizes the body also organizes meaning.