TOE is now limited, and rightly so, to what we think are the fundamental physical forces. It looks for an untmost absolute fundamental energy or unified field or whatnot which will become and be known as the one underlying cause of our forces formerly thought of as fundamental.

Some may complain that this would only be the physical TOE if it leaves out consciousness, the mind, sapce-time, and things like why is the universe has the capability for evolution of species.

For example, some think that consciousness is built on mind and brain and matter, since it does seem to be tied to it, and is perhaps something as simple as the mind perceiving the brain—another sense if you will, although a complex one; however, others see it as so nonlocal and intangible that they think it might be akin to, the same as, or even be the ground of all reality, a fundamental force that we'd have to account for in the TOE. Either way, fundamental or not, physics cannot account for it today, which is unfortunate since it is the ONLY way that reality gets through to us.

As for evolution, if it exists, or people, or anything composite, these are never in the TOE as fundamental, for they are wholly dependent on what is fundamental. Sorry, but this would seem to leave out Creators.

As for space-time, some things that we think are residing in it may actually be a property of space-time itself, and so then space-time might become a fundamental.

Another feature of TOE would be to say why, not just, say, that's it— vibrating strings lead to all forces and elementary particles.

We are yet only in the early days of scratching our TOE, but if the TOE really underlies all and can't be broken into any smaller pieces, by it's own definition, it would seem that it must be something rather simple, although absolute, ever enduring, and all that. There would also, with a complete TOE, be no further stumbler such as how come that's the way things are.