Effective Reality in Consciousness, Finitude, and the Role of Infinity in Scientific Modeling

Human understanding is mediated by consciousness and observation, imposing inherent constraints on scientific theories and ontologies. This paper develops a framework distinguishing eternal reality (ontologically complete but epistemically inaccessible) from effective reality in consciousness. The effective reality emerges from a subset of eternal reality that underlies observable phenomena. Within this framework, infinity emerges not as an ontological property of reality but as an idealized boundary concept marking the limits of modeling. Ontologies, grounded in observation yet extendable through coherent intuitions, must remain finite and constraint-respecting to model eternal reality. This framework clarifies the epistemic foundations of scientific theories, the bounded nature of human knowledge, and the proper role of infinity in theoretical abstraction.