  Quantum theory's irreducible empirical core is a probability calculus. While
it presupposes the events to which (and on the basis of which) it serves to
assign probabilities, and therefore cannot account for their occurrence, it has
to be consistent with it. It must make it possible to identify a system of
observables that have measurement-independent values. What makes this possible
is the incompleteness of the spatiotemporal differentiation of the physical
world. This is shown by applying a novel interpretive principle to interfering
alternatives involving distinctions between regions of space. Applying the same
interpretive principle to alternatives involving distinctions between things
makes it safe to claim that the macroworld comes into being through a
progressive differentiation of a single, intrinsically undifferentiated entity.
By entering into reflexive spatial relations, this entity gives rise to (i)
what looks like a multiplicity of relata if the reflexive quality of the
relations is not taken into account, and (ii) what looks like a substantial
expanse if the spatial quality of the relations is reified. The necessary
distinction between two domains (classical and quantum, or macro and micro) and
their mutual dependence is best understood as a distinction between the
manifested world and its manifestation.
