Pre-Constitutional Physics — Canonical Definition
Constraint
In Pre-Constitutional Physics, a constraint is any condition that restricts the set of admissible states or trajectories available to a system. Constraints define the feasible space within which all system behavior occurs.
A system cannot violate its constraints; it can only encounter, exhaust, reorganize around them, or or shift within them.
Constraints are structural, not normative. They exist independently of awareness, legitimacy, or intent. While systems and subsystems may adapt to constraints (ex: by modifying behavior, reallocating resources, or exploiting gradients), constraints themselves are not altered by belief or choice. They shape what actions are possible before any decision is made.
Instances of constraints arise from multiple sources and typically operate simultaneously, including physical, informational, energetic, biological, institutional, and historical limits. The coexistence of multiple constraints does not imply coherence or alignment; systems often operate under overlapping and competing constraints.
Constraints are scale-invariant in class but not in expression. The same categories of constraints apply across particles, organisms, organizations, and institutions, though their manifestations differ with scale and substrate.
Constraints do not determine exact outcomes. They bias state evolution over time, shaping attractors, trade-offs, and failure modes without eliminating contingency or variability.
Layer 1 — Classes of constraints
Examples include:
- Thermodynamic limits
- Causal propagation limits
- Finite information capacity
- Irreversibility
- Resource finiteness
- Latency of feedback
These are not emergent.
They frame reality itself.
Layer 2 — Variant instances of constraints (system-contingent)
- laws, norms, protocols
- damage, injury, scars
- immune memory
- debts, obligations
- reputational constraints
- technological lock-ins
- ecological depletion
- learned habits
- institutional rules
Scale Invariance
Constraint classes are scale-invariant in type, but not in expression.
The same structural categories apply across:
- Physical systems
- Biological systems
- Cognitive systems
- Institutional systems
Manifestation differs with scale and substrate.
Restriction does not.
What Constraints Do Not Do
Constraints do not determine exact outcomes.
They:
- Restrict admissible transitions
- Bias trajectories
- Shape attractors
- Produce trade-offs
- Structure failure modes