The ECI Framework
Information · Carrier · Energy
ECI models an operational system as a coupled configuration of three elements — information structure (I), Carrier (C), and energy dynamics (E) — situated within a Channel (Ch). Whether this decomposition is universal or necessary is itself a hypothesis. This page provides a visual overview of the framework's structure.
The Core Triangle
Framework at a Glance
A. Foundations
3 nodesWhat is information? What makes states distinguishable? The ontological ground of the framework.
B. Channel & Operational Architecture
7 nodesThe ECI system: how Information, Carrier, and Energy work together within Channels. The structural core.
C. Processes
5 nodesHow variation, coordination, and filtering produce order and persistence across scales.
D. Life × Mind
4 nodesWhen ECI systems become self-maintaining, self-referencing observers. From metabolism to consciousness.
E. Beyond the Channel
4 nodesSpeculative: could information cross Channel boundaries? Precognition tests, temporal architecture, the soul hypothesis.
F. Formalization & Testing
4 nodesMathematical framework, falsifiability criteria, and the research roadmap. Where theory meets experiment.
Four Core Commitments
- 1.
ECI Operational Configuration
Every operationally describable system can be decomposed into an Information structure, a Carrier, and Energy dynamics, situated within a Channel.
- 2.
Variation–Coordination Duality
All change arises from the interplay between variation (divergence, noise, mutation) and coordination (convergence, selection, synchronization).
- 3.
Persistence Filtering
What exists is what has survived filtering. Persistence is not given; it is earned through structural compatibility with the Channel.
- 4.
Scale Recursion
The ECI decomposition applies recursively: a Carrier at one scale is itself an ECI system at a finer scale.
Evidence System
Every claim in the ontology is tagged on two axes: its current evidence status and its testability. This prevents conflation of established science with speculative extension.
Current scientific consensus
Logical extension with theoretical basis
Concrete prediction inviting falsification
No current test; kept for completeness