Ontological Primitives
The schema's entity model is grounded in three philosophical frameworks: Levi Bryant's Object-Oriented Ontology gives us the Machine/Path/Place tripartition and type discriminators; Manuel DeLanda's Assemblage Theory supplies the T/C axes and lineage mechanics; Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory provides OPP strength, actant types, and translation events.
Levi Bryant — Object-Oriented Ontology
Bryant's ontology treats all entities as machines: objects that withdraw from full presence, transform inputs into outputs, and couple with other machines through relations. Three discriminator fields instantiate this directly.
| Field | Type / Enum | Required | Wave source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| machine_type | corporeal | incorporeal |
yes | 01-bryant | Distinguishes material machines (infrastructure, artifacts) from ideal/semiotic ones (laws, protocols, narratives). |
| substrate | list[inanimate | animate | cognitive | social | semiotic] |
yes (≥1) | 01-bryant | Multi-valued. "What material the machine runs on." A bank is social + semiotic; a canal is inanimate. |
| plasticity | rigid | plastic |
yes | 01-bryant | Rigid machines resist structural change; plastic ones can recode while maintaining identity. Coding collapse forces a new card. |
| has_interiority | bool |
yes | 01-bryant | True when the machine has a distinct inner operational register that differs from its exo-relations. All incorporeal machines set true. |
| actant_type | enum ActantType (7 values) | yes | 01-latour | Latour/ANT actor category. Determines valid relation-types and OPP calculation inputs. |
| gravitational_type | enum GravitationalType (derived) | derived | 01-bryant | Computed from coupling density + PageRank. Never authored directly. Values: bright | dim | dark | rogue | satellite | black_hole. |
| gravitational_weight | float [0,1] |
state var | 01-bryant | Participates in PageRank. Authored as a StateVariable entry, not a top-level field. |
ActantType enum values
| Value | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| human | Individual person as actant | Isaac Newton |
| organization | Formal chartered body | Dutch East India Co. |
| artifact | Non-living constructed thing | Steam engine, printing press |
| infrastructure | Large-scale enabling substrate | Railways, internet backbone |
| document | Text/semiotic inscription | Napoleonic Code, RFC 791 |
| place | Geographically/socially defined locus | Amsterdam 1650, Silicon Valley |
| quasi_object | Hybrid boundary object (Serres) | Money, software platform |
Path — Bryant relation field
When is_path=true, a Machine becomes a hyperedge connecting two nodes. Three relation fields apply:
| Field | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| path_type | corporeal | technological | semiotic | energetic |
Bryant's four Path kinds. Determines Castells programmer-machine rule. |
| relation_type | symbiotic | parasitic | competitive | neutral |
Bryant 4-value. symbiotic ↔ mutualistic_coupling CrossEraCouplingKind. |
| path_mediation_kind | transport | transform |
Latour: transport preserves, transform alters what passes through. |
Manuel DeLanda — Assemblage Theory
DeLanda's T/C axes (territorialization–coding) define the stability and expressivity of an assemblage. In Prime Radiant these are authored floats that gate lineage mechanics: a coding collapse below continuity threshold forces a new card and a new succession_type.
| Field | Type | Required | Wave source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| delanda_territorialization | float [0,1] |
recommended | 01-delanda | T axis. 0 = fully deterritorialized (nomadic, fluid); 1 = fully territorialized (fixed, bounded). Shifts across phase snapshots. |
| delanda_coding | float [0,1] |
recommended | 01-delanda | C axis. 0 = highly decoded (expressive freedom); 1 = highly coded (rigid grammar). Coding collapse (delta > 0.30 across snapshots) signals adapted_inheritance. |
| black_box_depth | int [0, ∞) |
optional | 01-latour | 0 = fully transparent. Each layer of black-boxing adds 1. Deep black boxes are invisible to coupling stress analysis. |
| purification_index | float [0,1] |
optional (polities) | 01-latour | MM-regime-level: fraction of hybrid quasi-objects purified into pure domains. >0.60 on an older machine signals hostile_inheritance from a newer one. |
| double_click_error | bool |
optional | 01-latour | Flags any "transparent transfer" claim across modes. Patched from purification_error in surface S4. |
Lineage gate: When delanda_coding delta across consecutive snapshots exceeds 0.30, the card must spawn a successor card with succession_type set. If the institutional shell persists, use adaptation. If it dissolves, substitution.
Bruno Latour — Actor-Network Theory
Latour's OPP (Obligatory Passage Point) concept maps to opp_strength — a derived float measuring how indispensable a machine is to all alternative routes. Translation events (problematization → interessement → enrolment → mobilization → stabilized) are modeled as top-level TranslationEvent nodes, not Machine fields.
| Field | Type | Required | Wave source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| opp_strength | float [0,1] |
derived | 01-latour | Inverse-count of alternative routes. >0.85 ⟹ gravitational_type = black_hole. Also a canonical state variable for per-snapshot tracking. |
| proletarianization_risk | float [0,1] |
optional (LM-relevant) | 01-latour + stiegler | High = re-internalization loop failing (Stiegler tertiary retention lost). Patched per surface S5 (oq-6-14). |
Latour AIME Mode Codes
Modes of Existence refine actant_type. Only first-class modes may be used directly; emergent and meta-modes are state-variable annotations.
| Code | Mode | Class |
|---|---|---|
| TEC | Technology | First-class (quasi-subject/object) |
| POL | Politics | First-class |
| LAW | Law | First-class |
| ORG | Organization | First-class |
| ATT | Attachment | First-class |
| REL | Religion | First-class (moved per oq-6-11) |
| FIC | MOR | MET | HAB | REF | Fiction, Morality, Metamorphosis, Habit, Reference | Emergent — state variables only |
| REP | NET | PRE | DC | Reproduction, Network, Preposition, Double-click | Meta-modes — detector flags only |