Law of Moral Proportion

Definition

The Law of Moral Proportion, the First Law of Moral Physics, states that legitimacy behaves as a proportional function of truth integrity, power alignment, and structural coherence relative to drift.
It is expressed mathematically as:

L = (T × P × C) ÷ D

Where:

• T = Truth Integrity (truth fidelity)

• P = Power Alignment (signal response to truth)

• C = Coherence Coefficient (structural coherence)

• D = Drift Index (thermodynamic pressure and meaning entropy)

• L = Legitimacy (the stability and reliability of a meaning system)

The law formalizes how meaning holds or collapses under pressure and is the core mathematical expression within Moral Physics.

Interpretation of the Law

The Law of Moral Proportion shows that legitimacy is not created by any single force but by their proportion:

• High truth (T) does not create legitimacy when power refuses to respond.

• Strong structure (C) fails when truth is weak or drift is high.

• Power (P) cannot stabilize a system without corresponding truth and coherence.

• Drift (D) can collapse legitimacy even when T, P, and C are strong individually.

Meaning systems remain stable only when truth, power, and coherence move together in proportion relative to drift.

Why It Matters

This law converts the dynamics of legitimacy from a subjective concept into a measurable, structural, and predictive model.
It explains:

• why people lose trust

• how misalignment becomes visible long before collapse

• why organizations drift even with good leadership

• why “doing the right thing” still fails without proportion

• how systems lose coherence under AI-accelerated signals

• how legitimacy can be restored through proportional alignment

The First Law makes the behavior of meaning quantifiable.

Relation to Moral Physics

The First Law is the central equation of Moral Physics.
It expresses the lawlike behavior of meaning under pressure and provides the mathematical grounding for:

• legitimacy measurement

• drift diagnostics

• proportional system analysis

• coherence modeling

• meaning-system thermodynamics

Moral Physics uses the Law to model how meaning stabilizes or collapses depending on structural proportion.

Relation to Meaning System Science

Meaning System Science identifies the variables that shape meaning behavior.
The First Law binds those variables together as:

• Truth fidelity (T)

• Power alignment (P)

• Structural coherence (C)

• Drift entropy (D)

The Law expresses the proportional relationships between those forces that MSS describes theoretically.

Relation to Transformation Science

Transformation Science uses the First Law to interpret:

• breakdowns in legitimacy

• drift accumulation

• incoherence in governance

• structural misalignment

• failures of decision pathways

• collapse of organizational trust

• conditions for repair and realignment

The First Law allows transformation practitioners to read meaning behavior scientifically, rather than intuitively.

Applications

The Law of Moral Proportion underpins:

• the Legitimacy Diagnostic Protocol (LDP-1.0)

• legitimacy scoring

• structural drift detection

• governance alignment assessments

• operating model clarity diagnostics

• drift-catalyst analysis

• coherence regulator design

• proportional system evaluation

It is one of the foundational tools of Meaning System Science and Transformation Science.