Builder, operator and ultimate origin
The Creation Stack distinguishes the builders of physical infrastructure, the controllers of information, a hypothesized technological operator and the deeper question of who or what created the conditions in which those actors operate. Moving upward does not solve origin: it introduces another dependency to examine.
Investigative question: Does the proposed creator explain the origin of the whole system, or only one layer inside it?
Evidence test and competing explanation
Test: For every proposed layer, state its evidence, dependencies and what would distinguish it from the layer below. Stop at unknown when the record stops.
Counter-reading: An indefinite hierarchy may shift the origin question without answering it. Physical reality without a simulation, nested simulations and theological models remain distinct alternatives.
Source trail: S03