Machine Ontology & Metaphor Engine

The Thermodynamic Ontology

Nodes: 18 | Transmission Flow: Active

Concept of Self

The Human Motor

Anson Rabinbach (1990) & Angelo Mosso (1884)

The defining ontological shift of 1870–1930: the labouring body became a thermodynamic engine converting calorie fuel into work. Fatigue ceased to be a moral failing and became measurable energetic depletion.

Ontological Co-production: Henderson’s Dictum: Science owed more to the steam engine than the engine owed to science. Helmholtz universalized conservation; Mosso's ergograph and Beard's neurasthenia transformed fatigue into a budgetary deficit.

Era Metaphysical Primitives

Dominant Metaphor: Finite reservoir running down; universal energy budget

Epistemic Primitive: Conservation laws & state variables

Social Organization:

Epistemic Legibility: Fully Inspectable Mechanics

Machine Ontology & Metaphor Engine

Empirical Testing Suite: Hu's Five Falsifiable Laws

Comparative Ontological Synthesis (1600–IR5)

Empirical Testing Suite: Hu's Five Falsifiable Laws

Comparative Ontological Synthesis (1600–IR5)

Epistemic Map Export (JSON & Markdown)