The Physics of Agency Sequence

From energy and entropy to choice and meaning

This sequence develops the formal architecture of agency as a physical process. It begins with energy, entropy, and information—the universal primitives—and shows how intention, autonomy, and meaning emerge from their interaction. Across ten installments, Axio builds a thermodynamic and informational foundation for genuine agency, tracing how coherence, feedback, and branching dynamics produce the capacity for choice.

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Part 1 – The Physical Nature of Agency

Agency as a measurable form of control.
Introduces agency as a physical quantity alongside energy and entropy, framing intention as a measurable form of control within the multiverse.

Part 2 – Agency vs Drift: Foundations of Thermodynamic Agency

Thermodynamics of intention.
Defines agency as the thermodynamic opposition to drift—systems that sustain order by converting free energy into directed work.

Part 3 – The Kybit: A Fundamental Measure of Control

Quantifying agency.
Introduces the Kybit as the unit of control—the minimal informational measure of agency derived from KL divergence.

Part 4 – The Law of Control Work

The first law of agency.
States the first law of agency: control requires work—energy must be expended to maintain directed outcomes against entropy.

Part 5 – The Law of Agency Decay

The second law of agency.
Defines the second law of agency: all autonomous systems lose control capacity over time unless replenished by external energy or information.

Part 6 – The Law of Agency Limits

The third law of agency.
Formulates the third law of agency: control capacity is bounded by informational and energetic limits, defining the horizon of autonomy.

Part 7 – Branching Realities: Agency in the Multiverse

Agency across worlds.
Extends the physics of agency into the QBU framework—agents as coherence filters acting across branching timelines.

Part 8 – Meaning, Ethics, and Evolution Under the Physics of Agency

The evolution of meaning.
Connects agency to value and evolution—meaning and ethics as emergent optimization of coherence under physical constraints.

Part 9 – Challenges and FAQs

Open questions and limitations.
Addresses conceptual and empirical challenges to formalizing agency—measurement, definition, and empirical verification.

Part 10 – The Grand Synthesis

Intentionality as physics.
Unifies the sequence into a coherent model where agency, information, and energy form a single explanatory framework.

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