C-Series: Meaning-System Governance

The C-Series examines how interpretation is produced, maintained, and contested at scale. These works focus on environments where shared understanding cannot rely on proximity, direct interaction, or informal correction.

The monographs in this series study how authority, credibility, and agreement function when interpretation is mediated by institutions, technologies, or mass participation, and why familiar governance mechanisms often struggle in these conditions.

Governance Monographs

C1 · Artificial Intelligence as a Meaning System

What changes when machines participate in interpretation.

C2 · Science as a Meaning System

What keeps knowledge reliable over time.

C3 · Pop Culture as Meaning Systems

How stories shape understanding at mass scale.

Abstract painting with geometric shapes including circles, rectangles, and lines in black, white, yellow, gray, brown, and blue on a neutral background.

El Lissitzky, Proun 19D, 1922.
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Featured with AI as a Meaning System as governance under rotation: multiple frames coexist, and interpretation shifts as the system exceeds any single viewpoint.

Monograph C1

Artificial Intelligence as a Meaning System

November 2025

This paper explains why AI creates mistrust even when outputs look correct. It shows how machine mediation changes judgment and accountability, not just results. Read this if technical fixes don’t explain the confusion, hesitation, or conflict you’re seeing around AI.

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A screen filled with dense white numerical code on a black background, with some areas slightly blurred.

Roman Opałka, 1965/1–∞, 1965.
© Roman Opałka Estate. Courtesy of Aphelis.

Featured with Science as a Meaning System as continuity under rule: accumulation becomes credible through consistency, persistence, and an unbroken reference across time.

Monograph C2

Science as a Meaning System

December 2025

This paper explains how scientific conclusions remain usable across time, teams, and disciplines. It shows what fails when speed, volume, and specialization increase faster than correction can keep up. Read this if research advances but agreement weakens.

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An art installation featuring numerous hanging globes and spheres illuminated with pink, purple, and white lights, creating a mesmerizing and colorful display on a dark background.

Pipilotti Rist, Pixel Forest Transformer, 2016.
© Pipilotti Rist. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

Featured with Pop Culture as Meaning Systems as distributed interpretation: countless signals cohere through attention, repetition, and affect without centralized control.

Monograph C3

Pop Culture as Meaning Systems

December 2025

This paper explains why mass audiences argue so intensely about stories, canon, and creators. It shows what happens when interpretation spreads without shared authority or shared closure. Read this if the same conflict patterns repeat across fandoms and platforms.

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