Coherence Regulators

Definition

Coherence Regulators are the structural–affective forces that slow drift, restore alignment, and strengthen a system’s ability to remain coherent under pressure. They counteract the thermodynamic forces that degrade meaning and ensure that truth, signals, and structure remain in proportion as conditions change.

Coherence Regulators are not traits, preferences, or values, they are system-level stabilizers that determine whether meaning holds or collapses.

Core Principle

Meaning stabilizes when systems can:

• receive accurate truth

• act proportionately on evidence

• maintain conductive structures

• metabolize contradiction through correction

Coherence Regulators provide the capacity for correction.

They reduce the velocity of drift (D) and increase the system’s ability to stay real under load.

The Six Coherence Regulators

Meaning System Science identifies six recurring stabilizers:

Humility

Reopens correction pathways.
Truth can enter without threat, reducing semantic distortion.

Courage

Enables required action when truth is uncomfortable.
Prevents paralysis and keeps signals aligned with evidence.

Feedback Quality

Supplies specific, accurate, proportionate correction.
Strengthens signal behavior and reduces accumulated contradiction.

Safety for Dissent

Allows concerns, risks, and inconsistencies to surface early.
Increases trust conductivity and structural permeability.

Repair Cadence

Regular revisiting of harms, gaps, and commitments.
Maintains structural continuity and reduces unresolved contradiction.

Participation Renewal

Sustains engagement with meaning over time.
Prevents apathy and strengthens the system’s regenerative capacity.

Together, these Regulators function as the system’s mechanisms of self-correction.

Relationship to Meaning System Science

Coherence Regulators stabilize each of the five scientific domains:

• Semantics (Truth): increase accuracy and reduce distortion

• Semeiology (Signals): align behavior with evidence

• Systems Theory (Structure): strengthen pathways and memory

• Thermodynamics (Drift): slow entropy and contradiction

• Affective Science (Regulation): maintain safety, calm, and openness

They make meaning more conductive, trust more renewable, and structure more adaptive.

Relationship to Moral Physics

The First Law of Moral Proportion:

L = (T × P × C) ÷ D

Coherence Regulators slow the growth of D, the drift denominator.

When Regulators are strong:

• drift slows

• meaning stabilizes

• legitimacy increases

• corrective action becomes possible

They are the positive thermodynamic forces that preserve proportionality.

Relationship to Transformation Science

Transformation Science uses Coherence Regulators to explain why some systems withstand pressure while others collapse:

• systems with strong Regulators correct early

• misalignment stays small

• feedback loops stay open

• crises remain containable

• meaning remains interpretable

Regulators are the architecture of resilience, not cultural niceties.

Why Coherence Regulators Matter

They determine whether the system can:

• detect drift before it compounds

• maintain clarity during change

• keep truth connected to action

• prevent political distortion

• reduce emotional volatility

• sustain legitimacy over time

Systems rarely collapse from a single failure, they collapse when Regulators are too weak to correct small failures.

Applications

Coherence Regulators are used to diagnose:

• governance stability

• psychological safety as a structural condition

• early-stage meaning degradation

• burnout driven by unprocessed contradiction

• cultural strain and political signaling

• structural bottlenecks in communication

• drift in AI-accelerated environments

• leadership volatility under pressure