Abstract
The central premise of this paper is that our experience of universe exists in the interaction between our psychology and the universe beyond our psychology, this interaction being mediated by our physiology.
The starting question being can the physical universe beyond our experience in fact influence that experience? From the fact that it can and does then arises the core question addressed, namely is there some set of sufficient and necessary conditions of the universe without which perception is not possible and if so what are those conditions and how do they react with our physiology and psychology?
The logic of the paper is to identify the extreme of perception, clear air whiteout where beyond which there is no perception then to add back elements such as to reconstitute the perceptual complexity of normal experience. The elements so added are then the necessary and sufficient conditions, the minimum external conditions necessary for perception to be possible.
From the analysis initial conclusions are drawn on the emergence of intelligence in the universe, in particular that intelligence is a result of evolutionary response to the aspects of the universe necessary for perception in the same manner that mobility is a result of evolutionary response to distance.