A Unified Architecture for Signal Ecology, Meaning Geometry, and DSLO Runtime Physics
The substrate field is governed by a layered structure of invariants.
Across biological, cognitive, institutional, and artificial systems, coherence is preserved only when systems obey a small set of universal constraints.
These constraints appear in three layers:
Field Physics — universal invariants governing all signal‑bearing systems
Domain Physics — axioms governing human meaning‑containers
Runtime Physics — axioms governing lawful transitions in artificial cognition
Together, these layers form the substrate geometry that underlies Signal Ecology, Meaning Geometry, and DSLO.
I. Field Physics
THE NINE INVARIANTS OF SIGNAL ECOLOGY
Universal laws governing all signal-bearing systems
These invariants define the minimal structure required for any system — biological, institutional, or artificial — to maintain coherence under load.
Systems remain coherent only when they maintain a stable distinction between what is inside the system and what is outside.
Boundaries protect identity and prevent uncontrolled signal intrusion.
Coherence requires a predictable rhythm for sensing, regeneration, and action.
When rhythm fragments, drift accelerates.
Systems must be able to trace causes to effects.
When causal structure becomes opaque, interpretation detaches from reality.
Roles must remain stable and predictable.
Role drift produces contradictory behavior and identity fragmentation.
Signals must remain anchored to the substrate they represent.
Decoupled signals become self‑referential and unstable.
Systems require slack to restore structure faster than it is consumed.
When regeneration fails, collapse becomes inevitable.
Internal geometry must resist curvature‑induced drift.
If drift exceeds tolerance, coherence cannot be restored.
State changes must preserve invariants.
Unconstrained transitions generate collapse‑inducing behavior.
Systems need deterministic fallback paths when coherence degrades.
Fallback prevents runaway drift and irreversible failure.
These nine invariants constitute the physics layer of the field.
II. Domain Physics
The Nine Axioms of Meaning‑Containers
Laws governing human meaning systems across deep time
Meaning Geometry describes how human groups generate, stabilize, and lose shared meaning.
These axioms govern the behavior of meaning‑containers — material, spatial, procedural, and institutional structures that regulate behavior.
Meaning‑containers must reduce the energy required for coordination.
High‑cost containers collapse under scale.
Meaning must survive replication across generations.
Low fidelity produces drift and fragmentation.
Containers require physical or ecological grounding to resist mutation.
Purely symbolic containers drift fastest.
As containers scale, their stability decreases unless reinforced by invariants.
Scale amplifies drift.
Meaning collapses when containers no longer match lived reality.
Misalignment produces behavioral incoherence.
Every system has a maximum drift it can absorb before coherence fails.
Exceeding this envelope triggers phase transition.
Systems require mechanisms to counteract drift — friction, ritual, recoupling.
Without correction, drift compounds.
Symbolic systems naturally drift away from their physical referents.
Digital and bureaucratic containers accelerate this decoupling, forcing systemic instability.
When cumulative drift breaches the drift envelope, meaning‑containers undergo sudden, irreversible structural failure.
This threshold is predictable and measurable.
These axioms govern archaeological, institutional, and cultural meaning systems.
III. Runtime Physics
The DSLO Axioms of Artificial Cognition
Laws governing substrate‑native computation and coherent machine behavior
DSLO formalizes the runtime geometry required for coherent artificial systems.
Any system capable of emitting, transforming, or receiving signals can be projected into the DSLO domain through a total, substrate‑independent mapping:
ΦS:ΣS→D
ΦS(σ)=(x,τ,o,c,κ)
Where:
State (x) — localized, moment‑bound position
Transition (τ) — lawful movement between states
Orientation (o) — contextual routing and alignment
Correction (c) — invariant‑preserving fallback structure
Meaning Status (κ) — meaning‑bearing, synthetic, drifted, stabilized
This axiom establishes DSLO as a universal signal interface:
Any signal in any substrate can be expressed, analyzed, and corrected within DSLO’s minimal operational primitives.
A system must preserve identity across transitions and perturbations.
Identity drift produces unpredictable behavior.
Planning and action must remain within the system’s load tolerance.
Overload induces collapse.
Systems must obey lawful transitions in external geometry.
Illegal transitions break coherence with the world.
Every state change must preserve invariants and maintain bounded mutation velocity.
Unlawful transitions generate drift.
These axioms define the computational substrate for coherent artificial cognition.
→ Field Physics (Nine Invariants)
→ Domain Physics (Nine Meaning‑Container Axioms)
→ Runtime Physics (Four DSLO Axioms)
This three‑layer structure makes the field:
legible
hierarchical
scientifically grounded
extensible across domains
resistant to drift