Nature • Consciousness • Environment
A unified triadic systems approach that rejects studying the brain, mind, and society in isolation. These three domains are inseparably linked and co-constitute one another—providing a framework for understanding human experience holistically and designing effective interventions.
R.D. Kitcey • 2026 • rkitcey@lernaen.org
Three irreducible domains that cannot be understood in isolation—each constrains and enables the others, creating emergent patterns unpredictable from any single domain alone.
The biophysical substrate—genetics, physiology, metabolism, neural architecture, evolutionary adaptations, energy budgets, plasticity limits, fundamental drives.
Finite Energy & Plasticity—The brain uses ~20% of metabolic energy; learning has costs bounded by neuroplasticity windows.
The experiential/cognitive domain—phenomenality (qualia), access awareness, metacognition, narrative self, symbolic processing, predictive processing.
Recursive Self-Modeling—Consciousness actively models itself within its model of the world, generating agency and identity.
The contextual niche—physical ecosystems, social institutions, cultural priors, symbolic systems, tools, incentives, laws, infrastructure.
Niche Construction—Humans build environments that then shape us back, selecting for certain minds and behaviors.
These three domains are not separate aspects that can be studied independently—they are mutually constitutive. Remove any one component and the system collapses:
Three types of relations operate between N-C-E domains at different timescales, explaining both stability and change in human systems.
Synchronic — "What Is"
Structural coupling that makes a state what it is at a given moment. Neural patterns (N) constitute experience (C)—they don't cause it like billiard balls.
Example: Seeing a red stop sign requires wavelength (E), retinal cones (N), and phenomenal "redness" (C) simultaneously—none is prior.
Diachronic — "What Changes"
How present states influence future states across time. Each domain can causally affect the others through specific mechanisms.
C → N: Conscious practice rewires brain
E → C: Cultural tools structure thought
N → E: Biological needs drive world-building
N → C: Biology determines consciousness quality
C → E: Goals lead to designing institutions
E → N: Environment shapes development
Contextual — "What Allows"
Background conditions that make trajectories possible without directly causing them.
Literacy (E) enables complex abstract thought (C)
Biosphere (N) enables civilization (E)
Different domains operate at characteristic timescales, creating potential for misalignment:
C dominant—Neural signaling, perception, conversation, immediate decisions
N-C interplay—Skill acquisition, habit formation, neuroplasticity, identity development
E dominant—Cultural evolution, institutional change, Bayesian prior updating across populations
The core dynamic explaining civilizational drift, institutional decay, and why good intentions systematically fail.
"Dysfunction propagates automatically across N-C-E levels; improvement propagates only conditionally."
This asymmetry derives directly from the Second Law of Thermodynamics:
Order → Disorder: AUTOMATIC
Thermodynamically downhill, releases energy. Requires nothing.
Disorder → Order: REQUIRES WORK
Thermodynamically uphill, consumes energy. Requires continuous input.
VC >> VN > VE
where:
VC = velocity of symbolic propagation
VN = velocity of biological adaptation
VE = velocity of environmental change
Decoupling Ratio: D = VC / VN
When D > 5, reality reassertion triggers cascading collapse.
D < 2
Low Risk
Coupled
D 2-4
Moderate
Early warning
D 4-6
High Risk
Intervention needed
D > 6
Critical
Collapse imminent
| Case | Period | Ratio | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulip Mania | 1636-37 | 19.0 | Prices fell 99% overnight |
| Weimar Hyperinflation | 1921-23 | 32.7 | Prices doubled every 3.7 days |
| 2008 Financial Crisis | 2007-08 | 5.7 | Derivatives $600T vs assets $60T |
| Pre-Industrial Economy | Pre-1750 | 1.25 | Stable—commodity money coupled |
"NO ONE INTENDED THIS"—Pure thermodynamic cascade. Initial perturbation propagates through N-C-E system, each degradation triggers cascading degradations, positive feedback loops emerge, system spirals toward collapse. No conspiracy, stupidity, or moral decline required—just physics.
A systematic anatomy providing an intrinsic inventory of the human-ecological organism. To ask "What is y(our) S.C.I.E.N.C.E.?" is to undertake a holistic diagnostic.
Networks of social relationships, kinship structures, power dynamics, and human connections forming relational fabric.
NiCE: Social instincts (N) + social cognition (C) + institutional scaffolding (E)
Cultural, spatial, and temporal frameworks providing meaning. Context determines how information is interpreted.
NiCE: Shapes biological responses (N) + structures attention (C) + constitutes environment (E)
Cognitive biases, heuristics, embodied knowledge, pre-reflective processes guiding judgment. System 1 thinking.
NiCE: Neural architecture (N) + substrate of experience (C) + trained by environment (E)
Technological, institutional, and designed systems extending capabilities and shaping behavior.
NiCE: Extends biology (N) + structures attention (C) + constitutes built environment (E)
Ecological, thermodynamic, biophysical realities constraining all systems. Laws of physics that cannot be negotiated.
NiCE: Biophysical base (N) + sets consciousness parameters (C) + foundation for all E
Legal, political, institutional frameworks establishing rules—defining rights, responsibilities, legitimate authority.
NiCE: Must accommodate biology (N) + shapes moral reasoning (C) + codified institutions (E)
Feedback systems, boundary conditions, planetary constraints defining ultimate context for civilization.
NiCE: Shapes adaptive traits (N) + informs planning (C) + meta-environment containing all E
1️⃣
Constitution
"What are we made of?"
2️⃣
Mechanics
"How do parts interact?"
3️⃣
Logic
"Why do effects cohere?"
4️⃣
Drift
"Where do systems fail?"
5️⃣
Prevention
"How to prevent failure?"
Four complementary frameworks for diagnosing and designing interventions, each targeting different aspects of system dynamics.
Vectors of Motion
What drives and distorts system behavior—the directional pressures shaping outcomes.
Field of Inevitability
The attractors and inertia that bend trajectories—structural constraints pulling systems toward particular states.
Stabilizing Tethers
What grounds a system to reality—fixed points preventing complete symbolic drift.
Fundamental Constants
The invariant limits—irreducible constraints that cannot be eliminated, only managed.
Together, these convert the descriptive anatomy of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. into a predictive mechanics of civilization—each quantifying a distinct class of constraint (kinetic, gravitational, stabilizing, invariant), allowing diagnoses to be tested, modeled, and falsified across scales.
From clinical diagnosis to organizational design—the NiCE Framework reveals multi-domain causation and intervention leverage points invisible to single-discipline analysis.
Triadic analysis reveals why single-domain treatments often fail
Typical intervention: SSRIs, sleep hygiene
Typical intervention: CBT, meaning therapy
Typical intervention: Social work, policy
Depression is rarely "just biological" or "just cognitive." The framework reveals:
Multi-lever intervention: Addressing only one domain often fails because the other domains continuously recreate the conditions for relapse. Effective treatment requires coordinated intervention across all three.
How the Asymmetric Propagation Law explains organizational collapse
E-Domain Innovation
New technology or policy introduced (VE = months)
C-Domain Lag
Meaning systems, training, culture can't keep pace (VC = years)
N-Domain Stress
Biological costs: burnout, chronic stress, health decline (VN = decades)
Feedback Collapse
Degraded humans create degraded institutions; cycle accelerates
Example: Healthcare System
Decoupling Ratio D ≈ 4: E-changes outpace C and N adaptation by factor of 4×, creating chronic mismatch. The "physician shortage" is partly a retention crisis caused by N-C-E desynchronization.
Pace-Layer Matching
Slow E-changes to match N and C adaptation speeds
C-Domain Investment
Accelerate meaning-making, training, cultural adaptation
N-Domain Protection
Buffer biological systems from chronic mismatch stress
Quantifying civilization's departure from sustainable coherence
IQ = Σ(Di × Wi) / n
Where D = decoupling ratio, W = domain weight, n = domains measured
The Insanity Quotient measures how far a system's symbolic operations (policies, beliefs, practices) have drifted from the biophysical and cognitive realities they claim to represent.
Policy Implication: Any policy that increases the decoupling ratio—accelerating E-domain changes without corresponding C and N investments—will predictably increase system fragility, regardless of stated intentions. The framework provides a falsifiable metric for evaluating policy coherence.