Modern physics operates within a geometry‑first ontology in which spacetime is treated as the fundamental layer and no physical substrate is permitted beneath it. This structural commitment limits the conceptual space available for models that treat gravity, quantum behavior, or dark‑matter‑like effects as emergent from medium‑like dynamics. This paper examines why substrate‑based gravity has not been developed or adopted within this framework, despite multiple observational and theoretical domains exhibiting behavior characteristic of a medium. The analysis identifies geometric ontology, institutional commitments, and downstream mathematical dependencies as key constraints. The MID/QC framework resolves this conceptual deadlock by explicitly naming the substrate and deriving gravity, geometry, quantum behavior, and dark‑matter‑like effects from its tension dynamics. Beginning at the pre‑emergent layer and developing forward until it intersects with known physics, MID/QC offers a coherent foundation for a substrate‑first cosmology
Chadwick Rasque (Tue,) studied this question.