Kotelnikov and Hoffman: From Interface to Geometry – Two Perspectives on Reality Beyond Spacetime

This article compares two independent approaches that deny the fundamentality of space-time: Donald Hoffman's interface theory and Alexander Kotelnikov's Infinite-Dimensional Multiverse Model (MBM) supplemented by the "Seven Forms of Matter" (7FM) model. Both authors agree that space-time is not the basic level of reality but a derived structure (an interface for Hoffman, a brane projection and the result of the choice of description level G for Kotelnikov). However, their answers to "what is fundamental?" diverge: Hoffman posits the primacy of consciousness (conscious realism), while Kotelnikov posits the infinite-dimensional geometry of the multiverse and, at the ultimate level, Apeiron as ontological potentiality (Form F6 in 7FM). The article records key similarities (rejection of naive realism, evolutionary conditioning of perception, derivativeness of quantum effects) and differences (role of consciousness, mathematical formalism, status of the multiverse). Special attention is paid to testability: unlike Hoffman's theory, which so far offers no empirical predictions, the MBM and 7FM provide specific verification and falsification protocols for forms of matter from 4th to 7th, including quantitative metrics (variations of constants, correlations, CMB anomalies). The concept of "dimension as projection" is introduced as a common language for both approaches: reality is infinite-dimensional, and the observer perceives only one of its projections depending on their cognitive structure and choice of G. It is shown that the approaches do not so much compete as describe different levels of one reality: Hoffman – what lies beyond the interface (higher forms of matter and Apeiron), Kotelnikov – the geometry of the interface itself and its ontological ground. The difference in institutional status does not affect the evaluation of ideas on their merits. The article is addressed to physicists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers seeking to understand the nature of reality beyond the space-time continuum.