Positioning Statement

This chapter does not discuss organizations, institutions, firms, or states.
Those concepts are merely historical instances of structure, not structure itself.

The concept of structure in EMIS operates at a level below traditional social-science categories.


I. Structure Is Not Organization, Not Institution, Not System

Structure is a stable pattern of energy, matter, and information arranged in spacetime.

It is not a purpose,
not a value,
not a direct product of intention.

It is simply:

Under physical constraints,
a repeatable, identifiable, and compressible pattern
formed by recurring energy flows.

Structure does not answer “what ought to be,”
only “what can stably exist.”


II. A Strict EMIS Definition of Structure

Within the Energyism (EMIS) Framework:

Structure =
a mathematically describable set of stable relations
formed by Energy (E), Matter (M), and Information (I)
under Spacetime (S) constraints.

Key properties:

  • Recurrent
  • Constraint-bound
  • Representable
  • Compressible

Anything that does not satisfy these conditions is not a structure,
but an event or noise.


III. The Neutrality of Structure

Structure itself carries no value judgment.

  • Not “good”
  • Not “evil”
  • Not “progressive”
  • Not “backward”

Structural neutrality means that its formation follows physical laws,
not ethical evaluation of its consequences.

The same structure may:

  • Reduce system energy consumption
  • Or be used to sustain high-energy expenditure

Energy waste itself can function as a signal (Signaling Theory).
A peacock’s tail, luxury goods, monumental palaces—
all use energy dissipation to signal surplus energy, thereby creating trust or deterrence.
This can itself be a form of functional “efficiency”
(by reducing the need for conflict or verification).

Energy efficiency belongs to usage, not to structure itself.


IV. Where Do Structures Come From?

Structures are not designed.
Structures are byproducts of energy minimization.

Structure is the result of time filtering patterns under constraints.

There is only one mechanism:

  • Given certain energy and constraint conditions
  • Only patterns that can be repeatedly realized
  • Persist over time

This is not a social theory.
It is a general system law.


V. Structure Precedes All Social Concepts

The order is:

Energy flows
→ Stable patterns
→ Structure
→ Named as “organization / institution / state / firm”

States do not precede structure.
Structure precedes naming.

Much confusion in social science comes from
mistaking derivatives for primitives.


VI. Rao’s Theorem II (Structure Theorem · Root Level)

Rao’s Theorem II

Any object that can be studied scientifically
must be representable as some form of mathematical structure.

This is an epistemological–mathematical theorem, not an empirical generalization.


Logical Derivation

  1. The fundamental aim of science is not narrative, but:
    • Repeatability
    • Comparability
    • Derivability
  2. Any object satisfying these must:
    • Abstract away concrete instances
    • Retain only relations and constraints
  3. The most general expression of relations and constraints is mathematical structure.

Therefore:

All science, at its deepest level, is mathematics.


The Essence of Structure

From this, EMIS derives its root definition:

Structure is, in essence, a mathematical structure
whose physical realization consists of
constrained relations among energy, matter, and information in spacetime.

Social, economic, and political structures are not special cases,
but projections of mathematical structures into the social domain.


Direct Corollaries

  • If a social phenomenon:
    • Cannot be abstracted into structure
    • Cannot be formally described

    Then it is not a scientific object, but narrative or ideology.

  • If a structure persists over long periods:
    • It necessarily corresponds to a mathematically stable solution space.

VII. Why Structure Is Necessarily Mathematicizable

Structure is not a story; it is a pattern.

Any pattern:

  • Can be abstracted
  • Can be compared
  • Can be compressed
  • Can be formalized

Social science is not non-mathematical because society is “too complex,”
but because the wrong variables were chosen.

EMIS chooses the variable of:

Energy flow under constraints.


VIII. The Inevitability of Engineers, Computer Scientists, and AI Entering Social Science

Once we accept that:

  • Structure is mathematical
  • Society is a collection of structures

The conclusion is unavoidable:

Those best at studying structure
will naturally take over the study of social structure.

This is not interdisciplinarity.
It is a return to the true nature of the object.


IX. The Role of 22-Structure Within EMIS

  • 20-Money: provides a universal energy metric
  • 21-Science & Technology: provides the conversion mechanism between knowledge and energy
  • 22-Structure: explains why all social forms stabilize as they do

Closing Definition (One Sentence)

Structure is mathematics projected into reality.
It is the computable trace left by energy under constraint.


Appendix: Why Systems Theory, Organization Theory, and Institutional Economics Are Naturally Compressed by EMIS

EMIS does not oppose systems theory, organization theory, or institutional economics.
On the contrary, they are fully preserved—but repositioned.

Not as parallel theories,
but as historical realizations and application-layer descriptions of structure.


I. Systems Theory: The Operational Language of Structure

Systems theory focuses on:

  • Elements
  • Relations
  • Inputs, outputs, and feedback

But it assumes structure, without explaining:

  • Where structure comes from
  • Why certain systems persist
  • Why others inevitably collapse

In EMIS:

A system =
a runtime instance of a mathematical structure
under specific energy and spacetime conditions.

Systems theory studies how structures operate;
EMIS studies why only certain structures can operate.

Thus:

Systems theory is the user manual of structure,
not its ontology.


II. Organization Theory: The Meso-Scale Projection of Structure

Organization theory examines:

  • Coordination
  • Incentives
  • Division of labor
  • Decision processes

In EMIS, these reduce to:

Stable allocation and scheduling of energy and information under constraints.

Organizations are not primitives,
but mid-scale crystallizations of energy–information structures.

In other words:

An organization is a named, institutionalized snapshot of structure.

Organization theory describes:

  • Local manifestations of structure
  • Historical implementations under specific conditions

Not structure itself.


III. Institutional Economics: Constraint Annotations on Structure

Institutional economics’ key contribution is:

  • Treating institutions as constraints
  • Viewing rules as sources of transaction costs

But it stops at:

  • Describing which constraints exist
  • Explaining how constraints affect behavior

Without addressing:

  • Why constraints take these forms
  • Why some institutions persist
  • Why institutions tend toward structural inequality

In EMIS:

Institutions are explicit constraint descriptions of underlying structure.

Institutions do not generate structure;
they encode and formalize structure after it already exists.


IV. The Fundamental Reason for Flattening

These theories appear to conflict because:

  • They operate at different scales
  • Without a shared bottom variable

EMIS provides not a new school, but:

A unified coordinate system:
energy flow and mathematical structure under constraint.

With this coordinate system:

  • Systems theory → runtime layer
  • Organization theory → meso-scale implementation layer
  • Institutional economics → constraint-description layer

They no longer compete;
they naturally nest.


V. Final Positioning (One Sentence)

EMIS is not a competitor to systems theory, organization theory, or institutional economics.
It is the precondition that allows all of them to be simultaneously valid.

Updated: