The Physics of Becoming: The Law of Moral Proportion

Foundational Statement of Moral Physics

Authors: Jordan Vallejo and the Transformation Management Institute™ Research Group

Status: Foundational Statement No. 001 | October 2025

Abstract

The Physics of Becoming introduces the First Law of Moral Proportion, the governing equation of Transformation Science, and establishes the scientific basis for how systems become new forms under pressure. Meaning System Science (MSS) identifies five domains that determine whether a system can remain intact as it changes: truth fidelity (T), signal alignment (P), structural coherence (C), thermodynamic drift (D), and affective regulation (A). Moral Physics formalizes the proportional relationships among these domains.

The First Law states that legitimacy (L), a system’s capacity to reorganize without fragmenting, is proportional to the product of truth fidelity, signal alignment, and structural coherence relative to drift. Legitimacy is not a virtue judgment; it is the measurable stability condition that determines whether becoming is possible.

This paper is titled The Physics of Becoming because the law describes more than how meaning behaves. It defines the physical conditions under which systems transform, explaining why some adapt and retain integrity under load while others collapse. It identifies the proportional dynamics that govern becoming and the thresholds at which stability gives way to incoherence.

Applied diagnostic, predictive, and managerial tools derived from this law belong to Transformation Science and Transformation Management. This paper provides their scientific foundation.

What “Moral Physics” Means

Moral is used in its classical sense: the behavioral conditions under which human meaning forms, stabilizes, or fails. It does not refer to ethical doctrine or virtue.

Physics denotes that meaning exhibits:

• measurable variables

• proportional and systemic behavior

• stability conditions

• predictable failure modes

Moral Physics is therefore a scientific discipline. It studies the lawful behavior of meaning under pressure. Only with this clarification does the First Law become intelligible: it explains the physics of becoming, not moral correctness.

I. Meaning as a Physical System

MSS establishes meaning as a multi-variable system. Its stability is determined by:

• T — truth fidelity

• P — signal–action alignment

• C — structural coherence

• D — drift

• A — affective regulation

Moral Physics studies how these variables interact under velocity, contradiction, and load.

From a physical perspective:

• Truth (T) behaves like a stabilizing signal.

• Power/action (P) behaves like the conversion of accurate information into movement.

• Coherence (C) behaves like structural conductivity.

• Drift (D) behaves like thermodynamic dissipation.

• Affect (A) regulates permeability and correction.

Meaning destabilizes when these variables lose proportion. The First Law formalizes this relationship.

II. The First Law of Moral Proportion

L = (T × P × C) / D

Where:

• L = legitimacy (proportional stability under load)

• T = truth fidelity

• P = signal–action alignment

• C = structural coherence

• D = drift

The Law asserts:

• Legitimacy increases when truth is accurate, action aligns with that truth, and structure conducts meaning without loss.

• Legitimacy decreases when drift accumulates faster than contradiction can be corrected.

• Stability is governed by ratios, not individual strengths.

The Law is a description of physical reality, not a prescription of values.

III. Why Proportion Governs Becoming

Becoming fails not because one variable weakens but because their ratios change.

Examples:

• High truth with low coherence → paralysis.

• Strong structure with distorted signals → misdirected execution.

• Accelerated power outrunning truth → rapid drift.

These are proportional failures, not moral ones.

Drift (D) is the system’s thermodynamic cost.

• When drift is low, even imperfect systems remain functional.

• When drift is high, even well-designed systems destabilize.

Proportion explains:

• why some systems hold together through shocks

• why others collapse under minor strain

• why correction succeeds in one environment and fails in another

Becoming is a proportional phenomenon.

IV. The Physical Quantities of the Law

Truth (T): Semantic Fidelity

Truth is the accuracy of the system’s baseline signal. Distortion behaves as noise.

Power (P): Signal–Action Alignment

Power is the degree to which action aligns with verified truth.
Aligned power reinforces meaning; misaligned power accelerates drift.

Coherence (C): Structural Conductivity

Coherence determines how meaning travels through the system.
Conductive structures preserve meaning; incoherent ones dissipate it.

Drift (D): Thermodynamic Misalignment Rate

Drift is the speed at which contradiction accumulates.
It rises through bottlenecks, avoidance, distortion, velocity mismatch, and affective overload.
It decreases through permeability, early correction, and verified truth.

Legitimacy (L): Proportional Stability

Legitimacy is the equilibrium produced when T, P, and C remain proportionate to D.
It is not virtue; it is the system’s capacity to stay real through becoming.

V. Affective Regulation (A): Permeability Under Pressure

Although the variables behave lawfully, they are regulated by affect.

Two regulators matter most:

• Humility increases permeability and reduces drift.

• Courage aligns action with verified truth and preserves signal integrity.

Additional systemic coherence regulators—feedback quality, dissent safety, repair cadence, and participation renewal—operate downstream.

Affect determines whether pressure leads to adaptation or escalation.

VI. Predictive Implications

Because legitimacy is proportional, systems exhibit predictable behavior:

• When power accelerates faster than comprehension, legitimacy collapses.

• When truth cannot revise action, meaning destabilizes.

• When structure cannot conduct signals, drift compounds.

• When humility and courage circulate, systems self-correct.

• When drift exceeds regulatory capacity, stability deteriorates.

Transformation Science operationalizes these predictions.
Moral Physics defines the underlying law.

VII. The Role of Moral Physics

Moral Physics does not dictate values, it identifies the structural conditions required for any value system to act coherently.

Its central insight:

Meaning remains stable only when its variables stay in proportion.

Through the First Law, meaning becomes:

• measurable

• predictable

• structurally intelligible

• governed by dynamics rather than intuition

MSS establishes the architecture.
Transformation Science develops applications.
Moral Physics formalizes behavior.
Transformation Management executes practice.

Conclusion

The Physics of Becoming defines the proportional dynamics that govern how systems hold together as they change. It establishes the First Law of Moral Proportion and clarifies the physical behavior that emerges from the interaction of truth fidelity, signal alignment, structural coherence, and drift.

Becoming is not mysterious, it is structural.

Only proportion keeps a system real under load.
Only proportion enables transformation without collapse.

This is the scientific foundation of Moral Physics.

Citation

Vallejo, J. Transformation Management Institute™ (2025). The Physics of Becoming: The Law of Moral Proportion. TMI Research Library, Foundational Statement No. 001.