I don't think Xeelee should be 1-A

[VictoriaGenesisBOA]

As a hard sci-fi fan, I would like to point out some facts:

Firstly, when Baxter is writing the Xeelee Sequence, the configuration space is clearly intended to reference MWI, similar to other contents in the verse that referenced various physics concepts, where the multiverse is composed of configurations. This is important because even at the utmost interpretation, it is a Hilbert space with infinite dimensions. This means that the configuration space is High 1-B at most.

Secondly, Xeelee Sequence is a hard sci-fi. Xeelee evolved from Proto-Xeelee, which emerged from the Big Bang (Near-Big Bang condition). Xeelee managed to develop the configuration space control by themselves, and the universe is 3-A. This would mean that Xeelee influenced 1-A by ascending by themselves, which contradicts the established 1-A rules.

Finally, the "Platonic Realm" is a poetic description. This is a hard sci-fi, not a metafiction. This means that Baxter will not intentionally make the content philosophical and not physical.

 

[Grabbing_dragon]

As a hard sci-fi fan, I would like to point out some facts:

Firstly, when Baxter is writing the Xeelee Sequence, the configuration space is clearly intended to reference MWI, similar to other contents in the verse that referenced various physics concepts, where the multiverse is composed of configurations. This is important because even at the utmost interpretation, it is a Hilbert space with infinite dimensions. This means that the configuration space is High 1-B at most.

Secondly, Xeelee Sequence is a hard sci-fi. Xeelee evolved from Proto-Xeelee, which derived from the Big Bang. Xeelee managed to develop the configuration space control by themselves, and the universe is 3-A. This would mean that Xeelee influenced 1-A by ascending by themselves, which contradicts the established 1-A rules.

It depends on how the Xeelee ascended. If there was something in that higher reality that allowed them to do so, then no. But if there wasn’t, then it’s an anti-feat.

Finally, the "Platonic Realm" is a poetic description. This is a hard sci-fi, not a metafiction. This means that Baxter will not intentionally make the content philosophical and not physical.

The name-dropping doesn’t matter as long as the verse has the feats to support the tier it’s going for.

 

[Robo432343]

Xeelee evolved from Proto-Xeelee, which derived from the Big Bang.

this might be an anti feat

 

[Deonment]

Firstly, when Baxter is writing the Xeelee Sequence, the configuration space is clearly intended to reference MWI, similar to other contents in the verse that referenced various physics concepts, where the multiverse is composed of configurations. This is important because even at the utmost interpretation, it is a Hilbert space with infinite dimensions. This means that the configuration space is High 1-B at most.

Firstly, Configuration Space and State Spaces in general, while connected to MWI, are still different from it. A state space is an abstract space that contains all possible states of a given system. Its connection to MWI is in the same way the entanglement is, they can help define it, but that doesn't mean the presence of any of them implies the presence of the others, especially given configuration space in this context is above the physical world and its possibilities. Even moreso when The Bulk is right there and rather explicitly contains all universes.
Second, Configuration Space is quite explicitly atemporal, aspatial, abstract and wholly made of logic (literally all in the blog), trying to confine it to physical limitations is just going to run into the issue that the book itself says otherwise.

Secondly, Xeelee Sequence is a hard sci-fi. Xeelee evolved from Proto-Xeelee, which emerged from the Big Bang (Near-Big Bang condition). Xeelee managed to develop the configuration space control by themselves, and the universe is 3-A. This would mean that Xeelee influenced 1-A by ascending by themselves, which contradicts the established 1-A rules.

Tldr;'ing the talk Ultima and Oblivion already had on this matter
The wave functions that govern reality are 1-A (existing in config space), but also explicitly encode consciousness, and the process by which both humanity and the xeelee "ascend" to Configuration Space is by uploading their consciousness to it, so it isn't an antifeat given they use an already innate quality that was 1-A to reach it.

Finally, the "Platonic Realm" is a poetic description. This is a hard sci-fi, not a metafiction. This means that Baxter will not intentionally make the content philosophical and not physical.

Calling its poetic/flowery is a stretch, considering it is called with similar descriptors 3 separate times, ranging from characters to the narration itself, and just being called platonic is not the only thing supporting it being 1-A
You also mention hard sci-fi 3 times in your post when that doesn't really mean anything, it's just a genre, that has nothing to do with the content, someone can espouse scientific theories in fantasy, or as Baxter did in the series itself, just because it is not explicitly called out as such does not mean it isn't going to deal with topics beyond physics.
This also ignores the fact that Xeelee deals with several things that quite literally cannot exist in any extent of physics as we know it, such as the lifeforms literally made of logical/mathematical statements, or the Xeelee being able to come into being if even a logical statement of it possibly exists.
In addition to the fact that the Transcendence and Monads quite expressly disprove your point.

(Also, the assumption that something needs to be metafiction when there are less series than not that use metafiction to get to 1-A is hilarious)

 

[VictoriaGenesisBOA]

Firstly, Configuration Space and State Spaces in general, while connected to MWI, are still different from it. A state space is an abstract space that contains all possible states of a given system. Its connection to MWI is in the same way the entanglement is, they can help define it, but that doesn't mean the presence of any of them implies the presence of the others, especially given configuration space in this context is above the physical world and its possibilities. Even moreso when The Bulk is right there and rather explicitly contains all universes.
Second, Configuration Space is quite explicitly atemporal, aspatial, abstract and wholly made of logic (literally all in the blog), trying to confine it to physical limitations is just going to run into the issue that the book itself says otherwise.

Tldr;'ing the talk Ultima and Oblivion already had on this matter
The wave functions that govern reality are 1-A (existing in config space), but also explicitly encode consciousness, and the process by which both humanity and the xeelee "ascend" to Configuration Space is by uploading their consciousness to it, so it isn't an antifeat given they use an already innate quality that was 1-A to reach it.

Calling its poetic/flowery is a stretch, considering it is called with similar descriptors 3 separate times, ranging from characters to the narration itself, and just being called platonic is not the only thing supporting it being 1-A
You also mention hard sci-fi 3 times in your post when that doesn't really mean anything, it's just a genre, that has nothing to do with the content, someone can espouse scientific theories in fantasy, or as Baxter did in the series itself, just because it is not explicitly called out as such does not mean it isn't going to deal with topics beyond physics.
This also ignores the fact that Xeelee deals with several things that quite literally cannot exist in any extent of physics as we know it, such as the lifeforms literally made of logical/mathematical statements, or the Xeelee being able to come into being if even a logical statement of it possibly exists.
In addition to the fact that the Transcendence and Monads quite expressly disprove your point.

(Also, the assumption that something needs to be metafiction when there are less series than not that use metafiction to get to 1-A is hilarious)

In quantum mechanics, configuration space can be used (see for example the Mott problem), but the classical mechanics extension to phase space cannot. Instead, a rather different set of formalisms and notation are used in the analogous concept called quantum state space. The analog of a "point particle" becomes a single point in

, the complex projective line, also known as the Bloch sphere. It is complex, because a quantum-mechanical wave function has a complex phase; it is projective because the wave-function is normalized to unit probability. That is, given a wave-function

one is free to normalize it by the total probability

, thus making it projective.

This is from Wikipedia. It is aspatial and atemporal by definition, but this also makes it immobile. It functions like a map (this is mentioned by some characters in the series), and you cannot become 1-A simply because you used maps to navigate. The configuration space contains all configurations, but it is not what can be manipulated freely.

The metafiction is just an example; I know it's not necessary to reach 1-A.

I think this may work:

Configuration space acts like a static "map of eternity," where time emerges as a path through these fixed states. The Xeelee's hyperdrives enable them to traverse this space, effectively jumping along or between trajectories without altering the underlying structure itself. For instance, in stories like Reality Dust, it's described as a space where history unfolds as a "thread," and accessing it lets users influence outcomes by selecting paths, but the space remains unchanged.

While the Xeelee do manipulate spacetime on lower levels (e.g., via wormholes or the Bolder's Ring for cosmic engineering), configuration space is treated as a navigable medium for their operations, not something they reshape.

Actualizing possibilities in Baxter's framework is indeed about elevating the improbable (or "seeming impossible") into realized trajectories within the fixed lattice of configuration space, not conjuring novel configurations from nothing. That space, as an exhaustive, atemporal hypersurface, does encompass every conceivable arrangement: from the finely tuned, low-entropy threads of coherent histories to the maximally scrambled ones.

In Baxter's cosmology, configuration space is a complete, immutable atlas of all logically possible particle arrangements, a hypersurface where every grain of "reality dust" pre-exists eternally, unaddable and unremovable. The Transcendence doesn't expand or contract this foundational set; their feats— like the "Restoration" that hauls every contingent human life into a singular, rectified timeline—operate by selecting, folding, and actualizing from within it, collapsing the probabilistic mist of quantum branches into a coherent meta-reality without altering the underlying grains themselves.

A better question should be this, based on things above:

Eradicating Probability of 1-A Structure?

Assuming there is M, an 1-A aspatial, atemporal state space (Global wavefunction related, similar to Xeelee Configuration Space) containing possibility A, B, C, D. If an Eradicator Device is used to eradicate the probability of possibility A being physically realized (A will have a 0%...

vsbattles.com

 

[Jockey-1337]

The Xeelee work on the scale of all logical modalities. It is enough to upgrade them from 1-A to High 1-A, actually.

Spoiler

'There is no time,' he whispered. 'There is no space. This is the resolution of an ancient debate - do we live in a universe of perpetual change, or a universe where neither time nor motion exist? Now we understand. Now we know we live in a universe of static shapes. Nothing exists but the particles that make up the universe - that make up us. Do you see? And we can measure nothing but the separation between those particles.

'Imagine a universe consisting of a single elementary particle, an electron perhaps. Then there could be no space. For space is only the separation between particles. Time is only the measurement of changes in that separation. So there could be no time.

'Imagine now a universe consisting of two particles . . .'

Gemo nodded. 'Now you can have separation, and time.'

Reth bent and, with one finger, scattered a line of dark dust grains across the floor. 'Let each dust grain represent a distance - a configuration of my miniature two-particle cosmos. Each grain is labelled with a single number: the separation between the two particles.' He stabbed his finger into the line, picking out grains.

'Here the particles are a metre apart; here a micron; here a light year. There is one special grain, of course: the one that represents zero separation, the particles overlaid. This diagram of dust shows all that is important about the underlying universe - the separation between its two components. And every possible configuration is shown at once, from this godlike perspective.'

He let his finger wander back and forth along the line, tracing out a twisting path in the grains. 'And here is a history: the two particles close and separate, close and separate. If they were conscious, the particles would think they were embedded in time, that they are coming near and far. But we can see that their universe is no more than dust grains, the lined-up configurations jostling against each other.

It feels like time, inside. But from outside, it is just - sequence, a scattering of instants, of reality dust.'

Gemo said, 'Yes. "It is utterly beyond our power to measure the change of things by time. Quite the contrary, time is an abstraction at which we arrive by means of the changes of things."' She eyed Hama. 'An ancient philosopher. Mach, or Mar-que

'If the universe has three particles,' said Reth, 'you need three numbers. Three relative distances - the separation of the particles, one from the other - determine the cosmos's shape. And so the dust grains, mapping possible configurations, would fill up three-dimensional space -though there is still a unique grain, representing the special instant where all the particles are joined. And with four particles -'

'There would be six separation distances,' Hama said. 'And you would need a six-dimensional space to map the possible configurations.'

Reth glared at him, eyes hard. 'You are beginning to understand. Now. Imagine a space of stupendously many dimensions.' He held up a dust grain. 'Each grain represents one configuration of all the particles in our universe, frozen in time. This is reality dust, a dust of the Nows. And the dust fills configuration space, the realm of instants. Some of the dust grains may represent slices of our own history.' He snapped his fingers, once, twice, three times.

'There. There. There. Each moment, each juggling of the particles, a new grain, a new coordinate on the map. There is one grain that represents the coalescing of all the universe's particles into a single point. There are many more grains representing chaos - darkness - a random, structureless shuffling of the atoms.

'Configuration space contains all the arrangements of matter there could ever be. It is an image of eternity.' He waved a fingertip through the air. 'But if I trace out a path from point to point -'

'You are tracing out a history,' said Hama. 'A sequence of configurations, the universe evolving from point to Point.'

'Yes. But we know that time is an illusion. In configuration space, all the moments that comprise our history exist simultaneously. And all the other configurations that are logically possible also exist, whether they lie along the track of that history or not.'
- Reality Dust

In other words, I see an argument to upgrade them instead of to downgrade.

 

[Jockey-1337]

What anti feats?

 

[Jockey-1337]

this might be an anti feat

Oh, I see.

I don't think it is an anti-feat because the Xeelee and the Proto-Xeelee are completely different animals.
The Xeelee reached the unreachable levels of reality, it is an easy explanation of how I see it.

There is a ton of characters in fiction who reached unreachable levels, for example:
Chaos Gods from Warhammer, they originate from emotions of sentient beings. 1-A rating.
SCP-3812, he was just a man. High 1-A rating.
Downstreamers, a race that survived heat death of their universe. Low 1-A rating.
Buddha (WoD), a mortal who reached a level beyond most of the Gods. High 1-A rating.