Reference map
The thinkers behind the framework
Each concept traces to a formal body of work. These are the primary sources — go here for depth on any section.
Holland / Gell-Mann
Complex Adaptive Systems — agent-environment co-evolution, emergence, selection pressure
CAS · Parts 3, 5
Elinor Ostrom
Institutional Analysis and Development — collective action, nested governance, rule formation
IAD · Parts 3, 6
Robert Axelrod
The Evolution of Cooperation — when cooperation beats defection, tit-for-tat, iterated games
Evo. Game Theory · Parts 6, 8
Geoffrey West
Scale — how agent size determines system access across biological and social systems
Scaling Laws · Part 5
Stafford Beer
Viable System Model — minimum conditions for system survival and mode sequencing
VSM · Parts 2, 7
John Nash
Nash Equilibrium — individual vs. collective optimal divergence, defection logic
Game Theory · Parts 5, 6
Lewontin
Niche Construction — agents modify the systems they inhabit, entry as selection
Evolutionary Biology · Parts 4, 5
Paul Samuelson
Revealed Preference — actual movement reveals real incentive structure
Economics · Part 1
Albert Hirschman
Exit, Voice, and Loyalty — the three responses to system decline and misalignment
Political Economy · Part 9
Maynard Smith
Evolutionary Game Theory — strategy fitness as context-dependent, timing and payoff interaction
Evo. Game Theory · Parts 7, 8