[Mr. Nobody]

In my lonely hours of reflections and meager research I have come across similar material but taken to different conclusions.
I agree about matter being nothing more than phases of energy (matter or ether), solidified if you will, not unlike ice forms out of water when it freezes. I venture to say that the primordial ether combined into atoms as the temperature fell enough to allow bonds to last. Particles to me are waves in the ether and the particles attributes represent a description of this ether wave.
And them we diverge. The unique properties of our fundamental forces and particles are simply the result of a selective process of what produced an observer. There could (should) be an infinite amount of multiverses with other properties, each of them with or without observers, wondering about existence or not
I do not believe in a divine spirit. I believe in emergence of local order out of simplicity (driven by gravity that opposes expansion to maintain an entropy equilibrium) Basically it is like this:
You build a car, but you will never predict how this car behaves, by looking at its constituents. It will assume unique attributes on its own, based on environmental influences, expertise of the workmanship and utility. The emerging attributes of the car are its character, unique and distinguishable from other cars. It appears as though your car possess a soul (no need to explain further, anybody who ever owned a used car, can relate). Complexity born out of emerging, unpredictable behaviors disguise as personalities. And before you ask me whether a soul is DRIVING the car, please truly attempt to understand my analogy:
We are not autonom. We developed and function within the confines of a society that evolved over millions of years of apes interaction with each other and staring at patterns to enable us cars to drive on our own. Without a highly developed society we would have remained the ape that we are.