Intelligence as High-Dimensional Coherence: The Observable Dimensionality Bound and Computational Tractability

This paper proposes that high-dimensional internal dynamics plus low-bandwidth action can be a useful architecture for adaptive control. The claim is a biological and computational hypothesis, not a definition of intelligence or a proof of a universal advantage over algorithms.

Within the paper's measurement model, estimated cortical state complexity can exceed the capacity of a restricted external tracking channel by large factors. The operational consequence depends on the channel, prior structure, task, and acceptable error; it is not ontological unmeasurability.

Landauer's principle constrains logically irreversible operations, not discreteness or clocking as such. Delaying durable commitment can reduce erasure costs in some implementations, while transient dynamics still require energy to maintain and control. Biological and digital devices must be compared operation by operation.

The paper explores related architectures across cells, nervous systems, and groups. Whether the same formal mechanism applies at each scale remains an empirical question.