A Permeability Engine (v1)

A maintenance protocol for keeping systems alive.

This is not a framework for optimisation. It does not define values, outcomes, or success. Its role is narrower and more fragile: to help notice when a system is transitioning — and when it is quietly closing.

Systems rarely fail outright. They more often lose permeability. They continue to function, produce, and circulate — but nothing genuinely new can enter. The boundary between death and transition is often invisible until it's too late to choose.

"The art of living well and the art of dying well are one."
— Epicurus
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A Permeability Engine

A maintenance protocol for keeping systems alive v1 — provisional

Purpose

A lightweight practice for maintaining openness. Not optimisation. Not values. Just noticing.

"To help notice when a system is transitioning — and when it is quietly closing."

Death vs Transition

Systems rarely fail outright. They lose permeability. They continue to function, but nothing new can enter.

Signs: fluent explanation, protected elegance, diminishing surprise

The Core Distinction

Death is loss of permeability. Transition is phase change. The goal is to avoid false continuity.

Transition is uncomfortable before it is legible.

State: Emergence

Questions outnumber structures. Language is unstable. Energy comes from curiosity.

Rule: Do not optimise.

State: Articulation

Structures stabilise. Language coheres. Energy comes from clarity.

Rule: Do not explain everything. Leave gaps.

State: Custodianship

Structures repeat. Language circulates without you. Energy comes from maintenance.

Rule: Introduce a constraint you did not choose.

A Diagnostic Question

Run this occasionally, without justification: What part of this system would I currently defend if challenged?

If there is a clear answer, that element marks the leading edge of possible closure.

The X-Slot

Every system contains one explicit refusal. Define it negatively: "This system refuses to stabilise around ______."

Examples: usefulness, consensus, legibility, synchronisation, completion

Controlled Decay

Once per cycle: identify the most elegant element. Remove it temporarily. Observe what happens.

If nothing interesting happens, the system was already brittle.

What This Is Not

Not a manifesto. Not a value system. Not a guarantee. Not an optimisation loop.

It is a maintenance protocol for openness.

A Closing Note

A system that tries to live forever becomes irresponsible. A system that knows how it can die remains accountable.

This document exists to support that awareness.

Click on any concept card to explore further.