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No function is possible w/o some underlying physics to provide for it's realization. That's something Newton understood.

Of course this is true, spunkets. But what really fascinates me is that you and I and daffodils and rocks and rabbits and bees, etc., etc., are all made up of the identical physical "stuff" (particles and fields) — yet all these objects are different. It's clear to me that matter and its underlying physics cannot fully account for this. IOW, the universe does not "reduce" to one single principle, matter. There's an intangible "something else" at work in it as well. Or so it seems to me.

[ the universe does not "reduce" to one single principle, matter. There's an intangible "something else" at work in it as well. Or so it seems to me. ]

Could be the physics humans are aware of is a sub-set formulation of reality..
Understood in a timestamped closed loop for awhile..

If so then,
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"...

Of course this is true, spunkets. But what really fascinates me is that you and I and daffodils and rocks and rabbits and bees, etc., etc., are all made up of the identical physical "stuff" (particles and fields) — yet all these objects are different. It's clear to me that matter and its underlying physics cannot fully account for this. IOW, the universe does not "reduce" to one single principle, matter. There's an intangible "something else" at work in it as well. Or so it seems to me.

I very strongly agree, dearest sister in Christ!

In living organism, the whole is always greater than the sum of the parts.

"...what really fascinates me is that you and I and daffodils and rocks and rabbits and bees, etc., etc., are all made up of the identical physical "stuff" (particles and fields) — yet all these objects are different."

The properties of that "stuff" differs and varies considerably. The properties of some elements, such as carbon are essential for the machinery life. For homework contrast the properties of sodium with carbon, then reassess your claim that the stuff is all identical.

"It's clear to me that matter and its underlying physics cannot fully account for this."

Energy... Matter is simply a form of energy.

"IOW, the universe does not "reduce" to one single principle, matter."

Matter is a form of energy and isn't a principle. A principle is a statement regarding a property of some element of reality. Energy is the fundamental element of reality. It is its animating force. I don't think the word reduce is an appropriate term to refer to nature's fundamental animating force.

"There's an intangible "something else" at work in it as well."

Physics is consistent w/o anything else that stands as some arbitrary fifth force. It's also complete, in that all objects and processes can be seen as arising from the physics itself.