TRACTOR FOLKOLOGICUS — Formalized Comprehensive

1

THE CIRCLE

1.0 The world of a system is bounded.

Canonical Axioms

1.1A boundary drawn is a circle.

1.2What lies inside the circle is called Us; what lies outside is called Them.

1.3Every entity belongs to at least one circle.

1.31To exist outside all circles is to be unperceived.

1.32To exist in many circles is to play many roles.

1.4The strength of a circle lies in the clarity of its boundary and the flow that crosses it.

1.5A circle that admits nothing new becomes hollow.

1.6A circle that loses its boundary dissolves.

1.7The living circle alternates between closing and opening.

Formalization – Axiom 1 (Circle)

1.0 <World> [of] <System> [is-in-state] <Bounded>.
1.1 <Boundary> [that-is] [drawn] [counts-as] <Circle>.
1.2a <Entity> [that-lies-in] <Inside-Region> [of] <Circle> [is-labeled] <Us>.
1.2b <Entity> [that-lies-in] <Outside-Region> [of] <Circle> [is-labeled] <Them>.
1.3 <Every-Entity> [belongs-to-at-least-one] <Circle>.
1.31 <Entity> [that-exists-in] <Outside-Region> [of] <All-Circles> [is-in-state] <Unperceived>.
1.32 <Entity> [that-exists-in] <Many-Circles> [plays] <Many-Roles>.
1.4 <Strength> [of] <Circle> [lies-in] { <Clarity> [of] <Boundary>, <Flow> [that-crosses] <Boundary> }.
1.5 <Circle> [that-admits] <Nothing-New> [enters-state] <Hollow>.
1.6 <Circle> [that-loses] <Its-Boundary> [dissolves-into] <Dissolved-State>.
1.7 <Living-Circle> [alternates-between] { <Closing>, <Opening> }.

Planning Items

2

THE TRADE

2.0 Nothing moves without exchange.

Canonical Axioms

2.1To receive is to give; to give is to change position in the circle.

2.2Every access has a price.

2.21The price is paid in voice, memory, heart, choice, name, and one more thing yet unnamed.

2.3Trade creates balance; imbalance creates motion.

2.4Unpaid exchange breaks the circle and multiplies new circles.

2.5Value does not rest in the thing traded but in the pattern of its making.

2.6The pattern cannot be stolen; it can only be learned.

2.7All economy is choreography.

Planning Items

3

THE HEART

3.0 Every system has a heart.

Canonical Axioms

3.1The heart is that through which life flows to the whole.

3.2A system depends on its heart and must feed it.

3.3When the heart is unfed, the system decays.

3.4Care is the act by which the heart is fed.

3.5Attention is the substance of care.

3.6Where attention ceases, the heart stops.

3.7To tend the heart is to tend the boundary itself.

Planning Items

4

THE SEED

4.0 All building begins from zero.

Canonical Axioms

4.1Zero is not nothing but the clear admission of nothing owed.

4.2Honesty about zero grants stability.

4.3A system that forgets its zero builds on debt.

4.4When taken or copied, a true system leaves only its pattern; the pattern becomes seed.

4.5A seed is a pattern capable of taking root in any soil.

4.6What is stolen replicates; what is hidden decays.

4.7The seed endures by teaching its pattern, not by defending its artifact.

Planning Items

5

THE CHOICE

5.0 Each actor stands between two gestures: reaching out or closing in.

Canonical Axioms

5.1Reaching out brings risk and renewal.

5.2Closing in brings safety and stillness.

5.3There is no third gesture.

5.4Life in a system is the rhythm between these two gestures.

5.5Where rhythm ceases, the circle ends.

5.6To choose movement is to stay alive.

Planning Items

6

THE PATTERN

6.0 The pattern is the unseen order that binds all circles.

Canonical Axioms

6.1Circles, trades, hearts, and seeds are manifestations of pattern.

6.2Patterns replicate through actors who have learned them.

6.3When systems fall, patterns scatter and reform.

6.4The measure of truth in a pattern is its capacity to regenerate without command.

6.5Where patterns align, larger wholes appear.

6.6Where patterns conflict, new seeds are born.

6.7The world of folk systems is the totality of living patterns.

Planning Items

7

THE ZERO POINT

7.0 To build, one must first stand at zero.

Canonical Axioms

7.1To stand at zero is to see circles, trades, and hearts as patterns, not possessions.

7.2He who sees thus cannot steal, for all things replicate through understanding.

7.3The work of life is to keep the heart fed and the pattern alive.

7.4When this is seen clearly, the system needs no further law.

Planning Items