  Quantum field theory currently has a single standard mathematical
characterization (the Standard Model), but no single accepted conceptual
framework to interpret the mathematics. Many of these conceptualizations rely
on intuitive concepts carried over from classical physics (such as "particle"
and "causality"). In this paper, instead of relying on classical concepts we
attempt to infer a conceptualization directly from the mathematics. This
reconceptualization leads to a physical reinterpretation of the paths involved
in the Standard Model's action integral as traces of an accumulative process
that occurs within an "extraverse", of which our observable spacetime is a
single "slice". We briefly outline a rigorous mathematical model which
validates the physical reinterpretation, and leads to predictions that are
potentially verifiable by experiment. We contrast our model with other popular
interpretations of quantum mechanics. We describe some of the metaphysical
consequences of our proposed perspective. Finally we present some speculations
about an alternative approach that could possibly lead to a more satisfying,
intuitively-graspable theory.
