Geometry as Representation: A Foundational Reorientation of Ontological Priority

Version 2 (February 2026):Clarified ontological commitments; refined representational interpretation of metric structure; added companion work cross-references; improved structural articulation of compatibility constraints. General Relativity and quantum theory employ geometric and algebraic structures of extraordinary empirical success. Spacetime curvature encodes gravitation. Metric structure determines causal relations and clock behavior. Quantum dynamics unfolds within precise mathematical frameworks. These structures function with remarkable predictive accuracy. This paper advances an ontological thesis. Spacetime geometry is not fundamental but representational. Ordered differentiation, locally instantiated as temporal rate, is primitive. Metric structure emerges as the large-scale encoding of compatibility among locally differentiated processes. No modification of the formal structure of General Relativity is introduced. The claim concerns ontological priority. If correct, this reorientation reverses the direction of explanation in gravitation and conditions the search for fundamental physical principles beyond spacetime geometry.