Semiotic Mechanics: The Physics of Meaning

These 10 axioms form the core of Semiotic Mechanics, a framework for treating meaning as measurable force. Together they move semiotics from philosophy into science.

0. Information Primacy

Reality is constructed from informational units. Semiotic mechanics describes how these units generate, propagate, and align.

1. Semiotic Action

Every choice is a semiotic unit that sets a trajectory for the future.

Hard gates: Yes and No are binary attractors that collapse uncertainty instantly, opening or closing trajectories.
Soft gates: Signs and symbols act as gates too, but are open to interpretation. Their non-linear effects depend on alignment, context, and resonance.

2. Alignment

Semiotic units either reduce entropy and create coherence, or increase entropy and create dissonance.

3. Compression

Semiotic units gain force by compressing repeated patterns into higher-order representations.

4. Fractal Propagation

Semiotic units propagate recursively across scales, from the individual to the cultural.

5. Resonance

The causal force of a semiotic unit is proportional to its essence, symbolic compression, and fractal depth, and inversely proportional to entropy.