From diagnosis to accountable action
Modelling as Semiotic Practice
In relational ontology, modelling is not a mirror of reality — it is a semiotic practice. Each model is a series of cuts and construals, actualising relational potential and preserving horizon space. Modelling becomes an act of stewardship, not a metaphysical claim.
Checking Readiness Explicitly
A key tool for relationally responsible modelling is readiness assessment:
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Inclination check: Are the encoded tendencies of the model compatible with the system’s relational capacity?
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Ability check: Can the system realistically realise the potentials the model intends to actualise?
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Readiness threshold: Establish the point where horizon exhaustion signals a legitimate stopping condition.
These checks make over-closure, divergence, and brittleness diagnosable and preventable.
Respecting Horizon Limits
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Recognise that horizons are finite and structured.
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Avoid forcing models to extrapolate beyond available relational room.
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Treat horizon exhaustion as a signal of epistemic responsibility, not failure or anomaly.
Practical strategies include:
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Limiting predictive depth where ability is constrained.
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Avoiding formal over-extension in mathematics, physics, or computational simulations.
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Maintaining relational space in social and semiotic models to allow meaningful variation.
Shifting Construals Responsibly
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When horizon limits are reached, shift the construal, rather than push the same cut further.
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Examples:
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In physics: reframe the model at singularity instead of insisting on infinite continuation.
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In language: reinterpret ambiguous or exhausted grammatical structures rather than forcing ill-formed derivations.
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In complex systems: adopt adaptive or scenario-based perspectives rather than rigid extrapolation.
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Shifting construal preserves differentiability and maintains systemic readiness.
Practical Payoffs
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Avoids formal divergence in mathematics, physics, and computation.
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Prevents collapse or rigidity in language, semiotic, and social systems.
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Turns “hard problems” (singularities, collapse, brittleness) into diagnostic signals rather than ontological crises.
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Reclaims modelling as accountable semiotic practice, anchored in relational capacity.
Forward Gesture
With readiness explicitly foregrounded, relational modelling becomes a tool for maintaining flexibility, coherence, and relational room. The final post of the series will synthesise the conceptual and practical insights, consolidating readiness, horizons, and relational capacity as a unifying lens across domains.
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