Aim: Emergentism as an ontology of consciousness leaves unanswered the question as to its
mechanism. I aim to solve the body–mind problem by explaining how conscious organisms
emerged on an evolutionary basis at various times in accordance with an accepted scientific
principle through a mechanism that cannot be understood, in principle. Proposal: The reason for
this cloak of secrecy is found in a seeming contradiction in the behavior of information with respect
to the first two laws of thermodynamics. Information, the microstate of particles within an isolated
system’s macrostate, can, like first‑law energy, be neither created nor destroyed, yet the information
in the system, like second‑law entropy, will inevitably increase. To explain information increasing
without being created, Laplace’s demon is invoked, able to predict where each particle is destined.
This doesn’t work for emerging events like consciousness, which are unpredictable. This can be
understood in terms of the derivation of entropy, and the emergence of classical physics, from the
Relativistic Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. I propose that the increased entropy
in a time‑irreversible, unpredictable (emergent) isolated system requires the simultaneous deletion
of information concerning the steps, or calculations, involved. Conclusion: Thus, the steps leading
to consciousness are immediately destroyed and must remain a mystery. Implications include that
entropy, not panpsychism, is the universal principle generative of consciousness, that our being
conscious proves that we are not predetermined, and that consciousness requires assuming an
“entropy debt” that can only be repaid by living organisms, prohibiting the emergence of conscious
machines.