PlasticScale * Metabolic Efficiency

The Axiom

Within a socioplastic system, ontological authority is inversely proportional to institutional and material inertia. 

The Hierarchy

Tier	IE Range	Function
Head	IE ≥ 9.5	Pure Law – constitutional filters
Executive	IE 8.0–8.9	Applied protocols – global reach
Systemic	IE 7.0–7.9	Core infrastructure – supports
Contextual	IE 5.0–6.9	Case law – territory‑specific
Soil	IE < 5.0	Archive – feeds system but does not rule

The Three Indices (each scored 1–5)

Index	Definition	1 (lowest)	5 (highest)
Weight (W)	Institutional and material inertia – drag from physical mass, maintenance, infrastructure	Heavy building, needs constant funding	Pure gesture, fits in pocket, needs nothing
Circulatory Reach (C)	Transversal scalability – ability to move across geography, discourse, discipline	Single site, one context	Multiple countries, disciplines, languages
Temporal Durability (T)	Capacity to convert repetition into legitimacy – persistence without decay	One‑off event, forgotten	Decades of reactivation, self‑renewing

The Formula

$$\text{<span style="font-family: courier;">IE</span>}<span\; style="font-family:\; courier;">=</span>\frac{\mathrm{<span\; style="font-family:\; courier;">C</span>}<span\; style="font-family:\; courier;">\times </span>\mathrm{<span\; style="font-family:\; courier;">T</span>}}{\mathrm{<span\; style="font-family:\; courier;">W</span>}}$$

• Range: Minimum (1×1)/5 = 0.2 | Maximum (5×5)/1 = 25

• Normalized to 0–10 scale: IE × 0.4 (so 25 becomes 10.0, 0.2 becomes 0.08)

What This Means

• Low W (lightness) multiplies the effect of reach and durability

• High W (heavy works) must have extraordinary C and T to compete

• Exogenous factors (media, biennials, press) are not in the formula – they appear only as evidence for C or T, never as direct input

How to Use It (Anyone Can Do This)

1. Score W, C, T from 1 to 5 using the definitions above

2. Multiply C × T

3. Divide by W

4. Multiply by 0.4 to get a 0–10 score

Example (without naming works): 

• A bag carried everywhere: W=1, C=5, T=5 → (5×5)/1 = 25 → ×0.4 = IE 10.0 (Head)