Hello Michaele and Peter,
I am happy to be able to stretch my time on the last day of the FQXi essay contest to include a reading of your essay.
In the universe of all-there-is - (known and unknown), distinguished from the universe of all-that-is-known, that physicists understandably prefer to embrace for no better reason than 'it marks the boundary [of] interactions that cannot be observed', notwithstanding physicists' reluctance to acknowledge that there must be a 'beyond' - spacetime is simply the correlation of space and time, each of which extends to infinitely in all directions, and always have..
Focusing upon your discussion of 'emergence', and recognizing that the FQXi essay theme is focusing on the identification of a singular "Fundamental" (otherwise the theme would be 'What ARE "Fundamental?''); it is not difficult to trace causes, events and effects backwards in time to the point where there are no more 'causes'.
Time and space are neutral with respect to making any contributions to 'causes'. They simply punctuate events by according each a 'when' and a 'where'.
That leaves our old friends 'energy' and 'matter' as the sole causes of all events and effects leading to subsequent causes.
The question then arises what are the origins of energy and matter? In the universe of all-there-is, (distinguished from the universe of all-we-know, a definition popular to physicists);
if we can accept the possibility that 'energy' and 'matter' exist in the universe in unknown and unknowable quantities, and always have, then we have arrived at the conclusion that all that is required for this to be so - our singular "Fundamental" - is Existence.
Physics and mathematics can then be understood to be the means by which mankind attempts to organize complexity into comprehensible order and to sweep unwanted 'stuff' into the waste basket with a stroke of Occam's razor.
History is a worthy foundation to build a future upon, but it is not fundamental to progress. Imagination and risk are more likely to serve our best interests in expanding our knowledge bases in the interest of improving the human condition.
I shall look forward to learning that you have received your just rewards shortly.
Thank you both, go well, and keep going.
Gary.