Persona Classification Layer
Compare Personas
Pick two or more historical figures to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension evidence, and shared school influences side by side.
Arthur Norman Prior
Only the present is real — tense as logical primitive, the open future as ontological fact
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where personas disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid (32 attributes) is shown.
| Attribute | Arthur Norman Prior |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Immediate |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | N/A |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each persona's writings reveal about their stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Arthur Norman Prior
Substantival but only the present is real — past events have happened but do not now exist; future events will happen but do not yet exist. Non-deterministic — the future is genuinely open.
Space
Arthur Norman Prior
Conventional modern.
Matter
Arthur Norman Prior
Conventional modern; only present matter exists.
Observer
Arthur Norman Prior
A single embodied person, present-tense throughout. Personal metaphysical agency: a Presbyterian theism that frames Prior's presentism with the conviction that genuine moral and religious decision requires a real open future.
Energy
Arthur Norman Prior
Conventional modern.
Information
Arthur Norman Prior
Conserved at both scales — but the conservation is presentist, holding moment by moment rather than across an eternally existing block.
Internal Tensions
Where each persona's working synthesis strains against itself.
Prior's presentism strains against twentieth-century special relativity, which makes simultaneity frame-dependent. Subsequent presentists (Dean Zimmerman, John Bigelow) have worked on reconciliations; the tension between presentism and relativity remains live.