Author: Logan Boyette 📧 Contact: boyettelogan1@gmail.com
Case Study: The Ship of Theseus
Classic paradox: If every plank of a ship is replaced, is it the same ship?
Reframed with System|Ethics (S|E):
- Coherence (C): The ship “persists” if it still sails, floats, navigates.
- Compression Ratio (CR): Identity lies not in parts, but in the compressed relational pattern (blueprint, function, meaning).
- Recursive Depth (RD): Each replacement is a recursion test; if pattern survives, identity holds.
- Interpretive Friction (IF): The paradox arises only when competing narratives spike IF (material vs. function vs. memory).
Resolution: Identity = recursive invariance. The “real” ship is whichever sustains coherence under drift.
Rosetta Stone: S|E ↔ Physics
| S|E Metric | Informational Meaning | Physical Analogue | |--------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------| | Coherence (C) | Order vs. disorder in a system | Entropy / Negentropy | | Contextual Mass (m_c) | Informational weight or influence | Mass / Gravity | | Interpretive Friction | Limit of intelligibility & transmission | Speed of Light / Absolute Zero | | Recursive Depth (RD) | Self-similar layering, survival of cycles | Fractals / Holographic Principle | | Power (P) | Capacity to do informational work | Energy | | Generative Negentropy (Gₙ) | Order that generates further order | Negentropy + fractal invariants |
Why This Matters
S|E gives us a universal metric grammar. Just as physics stabilizes with invariants (c, G, h), System|Ethics stabilizes identity and novelty through informational invariants.
- Epistemology: dissolves paradoxes by shifting focus from substance to recursive survival.
- Ethics: resilience and generativity are built-in, not bolted on.
- Physics parallel: every metric has a physical analogue, grounding the abstract in reality.
Contact
For correspondence, collaboration, or further development of S|E: Logan Boyette 📧 boyettelogan1@gmail.com