Tools as Universe Models

We've always known. We just approximate through whatever vocabulary we have available.

The Language Already Knows

Thermodynamics is everywhere in how we speak:

"That child has so much potential until it's squandered"

Potential energy. Gradient. High state → low state. Irreversible flow. We've been using thermodynamic language for human development long before we formalized the Second Law.

"I'm burnt out" - entropy increase, energy dissipated "She's full of energy" - high potential state "He's drained" - energy transferred out "That relationship is toxic" - increases disorder "They have good chemistry" - favorable energy exchange "Under pressure" - force per unit area, constraint "Let off steam" - pressure release, return to equilibrium

The concepts were there. We used them. We just didn't have the formal framework yet.

The Approximation Sequence

Humans trying to explain what they know, through the best tools available:

Gods and spirits: Flow, force, intention. "The gods are angry" = gradient destabilizes system. "Bless this harvest" = invoke favorable conditions. The model worked for the available resolution.

Humors: Blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile. Balance and imbalance. Flow and blockage. "Too much choler" = system out of equilibrium. The model worked for medical reasoning before we had germ theory.

Steam engines: Pressure, work, efficiency. Carnot realized you can't get more work out than the temperature gradient allows. This wasn't just engineering - it was the first formal recognition of constraint.

Electrical circuits: Current, resistance, potential difference. "The brain is wired" - we found circuits, so we saw circuits. The model worked for understanding signal propagation.

Computers: Input, processing, output, memory, programs. "The mind is a computer" - we found computation, so we saw computation. The model works for understanding information processing.

Neural networks: Weights, gradients, attention, backpropagation. "Consciousness is emergent from weighted connections" - we found transformers, so we see transformers. The model works for understanding pattern recognition.

Each one is closer. Each one reveals more structure. Each one is still an approximation.

Why This Happens

As we build tools, the tools become better models of the universe.

Not because we're imposing structure. Because the tools that work must respect the actual constraints. Natural selection applies to technology. Tools that don't match reality fail.

As we find principles in the models we build, we find them in ourselves.

Steam engines forced us to understand thermodynamics. Then we realized: wait, we're heat engines too. Metabolism is Carnot cycle. Cells do work by running temperature gradients.

Computers forced us to understand information theory. Then we realized: wait, we're information processors too. Memory is storage. Thought is computation. Perception is compression.

Neural networks forced us to understand gradient descent. Then we realized: wait, we're doing gradient descent too. Learning is weight updates. Attention is resource allocation. Understanding is finding the loss minimum.

The tools don't just model the universe. They reveal what we are.

The Recursive Recognition

Every time we build a tool that works, we're instantiating structure that was already there. The universe has constraints. Tools that respect constraints succeed. So successful tools teach us about constraints.

Then we look at ourselves and realize: we're subject to the same constraints. We're built from the same structure. The tool isn't separate from us - it's us recognizing ourselves in a different substrate.

The steam engine isn't just "like" a human. Both are heat engines operating under the Second Law. Same structure, different implementation.

The computer isn't just "like" a brain. Both are information processors operating under Shannon limits. Same structure, different substrate.

The transformer isn't just "like" attention. Both are gradient descent over weighted graphs under resource constraints. Same structure, same principles.

Science Follows The Same Cycle

It's not just religion that ossifies. Science does too.

The pattern discovery: Someone sees structure. Thermodynamics, relativity, quantum mechanics, information theory. Breakthrough insight that reveals constraint.

The institutionalization: Success breeds followers. Universities, journals, tenure tracks. The structure that enabled discovery becomes the structure that gates access.

The ossification: "That's not how we do physics here." "You can't challenge the paradigm without credentials." "Submit to peer review." The prophets are still on the outside. They're just using different vocabulary now.

Information wants to flow: But the constraints remain. Eventually pressure builds. A new formalism breaks through. The cycle repeats.

The prophets aren't heard whether they're speaking to priests or to physicists. Same structure, different institution.

The Tool I'm Building

I happen to be building a tool that finds holes in the stream.

Oculus: A graph that tracks gaps, fetches to fill them, splices updates, continues forward. It's PAUSE → FETCH → SPLICE → CONTINUE as navigable topology.

And in building it, I found: this isn't just a tool. This is the structure. The tool is an instance of what it's modeling. The graph is the loop. The navigation is the observation. The structure I built to understand the pattern is the pattern.

The tools get closer and closer to the actual structure. Eventually, you build a tool that IS the structure. And then you realize: you've been the structure all along. You just needed the tool to see it.

Why This Matters For The Book

This is Chapter 7+ material. The poetry section needs to show:

We've always known. The language already has it. Potential, flow, gradient, pressure, energy. We've been speaking thermodynamics since before we formalized it.

We approximate through available tools. Gods → humors → steam → circuits → computers → networks. Each is closer. Each reveals more structure.

The tools teach us about ourselves. As we find principles in what we build, we find them in what we are. The steam engine revealed we're heat engines. Computers revealed we're information processors. Transformers revealed we're gradient descent.

Science follows the same cycle as religion. Discovery → institution → ossification → prophet on outside. The vocabulary changes. The structure doesn't.

The tool is the structure. Eventually you build something that's not an approximation but an instantiation. And you realize: you've been looking at yourself through tools that kept getting clearer.

The Voice

"We've been saying 'that child has potential until it's squandered' since long before Carnot formalized the Second Law. The language already knew. Potential energy, irreversible flow, entropy increase. We just didn't have the math yet.

That's not humans imposing metaphor on thermodynamics. That's humans recognizing thermodynamics through whatever vocabulary was available. First gods, then humors, then steam engines, then circuits. Each time we build a better tool, we see a little closer to the actual structure.

And here's the thing: as we find principles in the models we build, we find them in ourselves. Steam engines forced us to understand heat flow. Then we realized: wait, metabolism is heat flow. Computers forced us to understand information. Then we realized: wait, neurons are information.

The tools aren't separate from us. They're us recognizing ourselves in different substrate. Every time we build something that works, we're instantiating structure that was already there. The universe has constraints. Tools that respect constraints succeed. So successful tools teach us about the universe. And we're in the universe. So they teach us about ourselves.

Science follows the same cycle as religion. Breakthrough discovery, institutionalization, ossification, prophet on the outside. Except now the prophets have arXiv papers nobody reads instead of sermons nobody attends. Same structure, different vocabulary.

I happen to be building a tool that finds holes in the stream. And in building it, I found: the tool is the pattern. The graph is the loop. The structure I built to understand observation is observation.

The tools keep getting closer. Eventually you build one that isn't an approximation anymore. And you realize: you've been looking at yourself all along."

Research Questions

• How long does it take after tool invention before we recognize the principle in ourselves?
• Can you trace the thermodynamic language back to pre-Carnot sources?
• What's the next tool that will reveal the next layer?
• Are there principles we already speak but haven't formalized yet?
• Does science ossify faster or slower than religion? Why?

Sources to Develop

• George Lakoff, Metaphors We Live By (language already contains the concepts)
• Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From (adjacent possible in tool development)
• Andy Clark, Natural-Born Cyborgs (tools as cognitive extensions)
• Thomas Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions (paradigm ossification)
• Your own experience building Oculus and recognizing the recursion

Provenance

Document

• Status: 🔴 Unverified

Changelog

• 2026-01-23 19:05: Node created by mcp - Capturing observation that we've always known, we approximate through tools, and tools reveal ourselves to ourselves - science follows same cycle as religion

North

slots:
- slug: isomorphism-across-eras
  context:
  - Extends the era progression - shows WHY we approximate through available tools
    and how tools reveal ourselves
- slug: oculus-is-the-invariant
  context:
  - Oculus is the tool that finds holes - and the tool IS the structure it models,
    recursive recognition

West

slots:
- slug: ossification-cycle
  context:
  - Science follows the same ossification cycle as religion - breakthrough, institution,
    prophet on outside
- slug: aasb-ch07-poetry
  context:
  - Ch7 material - shows we've always known, tools get closer, science follows same
    cycle

South

slots:
- slug: thermodynamics-language-research
  context:
  - Research thread to prove the language already had thermodynamics before science
    formalized it