Civilisation Atlas | Universal Coordinate Schema

article:
  id: CA-UI-003
  title: Universal Coordinate Schema
  version: 1.0
  status: canonical
  type: specification
  parent_protocol: CA-UI-001
  depends_on:
    - CA-UI-002

purpose: >
  Provide a shared multidimensional address for civilisations,
  societies and civilisation-scale systems without collapsing
  different forms of development into one stage ladder.

CivilisationCoordinate =
Capability
× Lifecycle
× HabitatIndependence

coordinate:
  capability:
    code: C
    dimension_type: chronological_capability
    question: What can the civilisation reliably do?
  lifecycle:
    code: L
    dimension_type: system_motion
    question: Where is the civilisation on its flight path?
  habitat:
    code: H
    dimension_type: survival_independence
    question: How independent is civilisation from its original habitat?

separation_rule:
  capability_is_not_lifecycle: true
  capability_is_not_habitat: true
  lifecycle_is_not_habitat: true
  stage_numbers_are_not_interchangeable: true

HIGH CAPABILITY ≠ HEALTH
EXPANSION ≠ HABITAT INDEPENDENCE
OFF-WORLD PRESENCE ≠ AUTONOMOUS CIVILISATION
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE ≠ CIVILISATIONAL REPAIR

capability_registry:
  C0:
    id: CA-STAGE-00
    label: Adaptive Human Worlds
    capabilities:
      - mobile adaptation
      - ecological knowledge
      - tool use
      - oral memory
      - local coordination
  C1:
    id: CA-STAGE-01
    label: Settlement and Surplus
    capabilities:
      - permanent settlement
      - food surplus
      - specialised labour
      - storage
      - local infrastructure
  C2:
    id: CA-STAGE-02
    label: Administrative and Recorded Civilisation
    capabilities:
      - writing
      - formal administration
      - taxation
      - law
      - territorial coordination
      - institutional memory
  C3:
    id: CA-STAGE-03
    label: Industrial and Mass-Institution Civilisation
    capabilities:
      - mechanised production
      - fossil-energy scaling
      - mass education
      - mass transport
      - industrial warfare
      - national institutions
  C4:
    id: CA-STAGE-04
    label: Planetary Network Civilisation
    capabilities:
      - planetary communication
      - global logistics
      - digital coordination
      - orbital infrastructure
      - planetary-scale production
      - integrated information networks
  C5:
    id: CA-STAGE-05
    label: Regenerative and Self-Correcting Civilisation
    capabilities:
      - systematic repair
      - ecological regeneration
      - reliable feedback
      - institutional self-correction
      - lower-floor protection
      - long-horizon coordination
  C6:
    id: CA-STAGE-06
    label: Multi-World Extension
    capabilities:
      - persistent off-world operations
      - multi-world logistics
      - remote habitat construction
      - interplanetary supply systems
  C7:
    id: CA-STAGE-07
    label: Autonomous Multi-World Civilisation
    capabilities:
      - independent off-world production
      - independent institutional continuity
      - local population persistence
      - multi-world redundancy
  C8:
    id: CA-STAGE-08
    label: Distributed Interplanetary Civilisation
    capabilities:
      - multiple autonomous branches
      - interplanetary coordination
      - distributed civilisational memory
      - habitat-independent continuity

capability_assignment:
  rule: >
    Assign the highest stage whose defining capability bundle
    is reliable, scaled, institutionalised and civilisation-dependent.
  insufficient_conditions:
    - invention_only
    - prototype_only
    - elite_access_only
    - temporary_demonstration
    - isolated_local_adoption

function assign_capability(system):
    for stage in descending(capability_registry):
        if reliable(stage.capabilities)
        and scaled(stage.capabilities)
        and institutionalised(stage.capabilities)
        and structurally_consequential(stage.capabilities):
            return stage
    return UNKNOWN

lifecycle_registry:
  TAKEOFF:
    id: CA-LIFECYCLE-TAKEOFF
    definition: >
      New capability, institution or civilisational form begins
      producing sustained structural change.
  CLIMB:
    id: CA-LIFECYCLE-CLIMB
    definition: >
      Capability, population, reach, complexity or coordination
      expands faster than systemic resistance.
  CRUISE:
    id: CA-LIFECYCLE-CRUISE
    definition: >
      The operating structure remains broadly stable and
      reproduces itself across time.
  DESCENT:
    id: CA-LIFECYCLE-DESCENT
    definition: >
      Maintenance, legitimacy, capacity or resilience declines
      faster than the system can repair itself.

lifecycle_conditions:
  DRIFT:
    id: CA-CONDITION-DRIFT
    definition: >
      The system continues operating while moving away from
      viable, legitimate or intended outcomes.
  FRACTURE:
    id: CA-CONDITION-FRACTURE
    definition: >
      A critical flow, institution, floor or relationship has
      become discontinuous.
  REPAIR:
    id: CA-CONDITION-REPAIR
    definition: >
      The system is restoring damaged floors, flows,
      capabilities or institutions.
  TRANSITION:
    id: CA-CONDITION-TRANSITION
    definition: >
      The system is moving between stable operating structures.
  COLLAPSE:
    id: CA-CONDITION-COLLAPSE
    definition: >
      The system can no longer reproduce essential operating
      structures at its previous scale.

LifecyclePhase ≠ LifecycleCondition

lifecycle:
  phase: CRUISE
  conditions:
    - DRIFT
    - FRACTURE
    - REPAIR

CRUISE + DRIFT
CLIMB + FRACTURE
DESCENT + REPAIR
TAKEOFF + TRANSITION

habitat_registry:
  H0:
    id: CA-HABITAT-00
    label: Earth-Contained Civilisation
    definition: >
      Civilisation operates entirely within Earth and possesses
      no persistent external operational reach.
  H1:
    id: CA-HABITAT-01
    label: Earth-Dependent Civilisation with Robotic Reach
    definition: >
      Civilisation can sense, communicate with and operate machines
      beyond Earth but remains completely dependent on Earth.
  H2:
    id: CA-HABITAT-02
    label: Temporary Human Off-World Access
    definition: >
      Humans can temporarily live and work beyond Earth but cannot
      persist without continuous Earth support.
  H3:
    id: CA-HABITAT-03
    label: Dependent Off-World Outpost
    definition: >
      A persistent inhabited outpost exists but remains structurally
      dependent on Earth for critical survival functions.
  H4:
    id: CA-HABITAT-04
    label: Persistent Off-World Settlement
    definition: >
      A durable settlement exists with partial local production,
      population continuity and institutional structure.
  H5:
    id: CA-HABITAT-05
    label: High-Autonomy Settlement
    definition: >
      The settlement can maintain most critical functions locally
      but still retains important external dependencies.
  H6:
    id: CA-HABITAT-06
    label: Autonomous Civilisational Branch
    definition: >
      The off-world branch can reproduce its population,
      institutions, production, knowledge and survival systems
      without compulsory support from Earth.

habitat_independence_test:
  dimensions:
    - breathable_environment
    - food
    - water
    - energy
    - materials
    - maintenance
    - medicine
    - reproduction
    - education
    - governance
    - industrial_replacement
    - civilisational_memory

function assign_habitat_level(system):
    evaluate:
        local_survival
        local_repair
        local_reproduction
        local_production
        local_governance
        local_knowledge_continuity
    assign highest level sustained
    without hidden lower-habitat dependency

STAIRCASE RULE:
A settlement is not independent
while removal of Earth support causes terminal failure.

primary_coordinate:
  coordinate_id: required
  target_object: required
  capability_stage: required
  lifecycle_phase: required
  lifecycle_conditions: []
  habitat_level: required
  observation_date: required
  evidence_ids: required
  confidence: required

primary_coordinate:
  coordinate_id: CA-COORD-HUMANITY-LIVE-001
  target_object: CA-CIV-HUMANITY-PRESENT
  capability_stage:
    id: CA-STAGE-04
    position: late
  lifecycle:
    phase: CRUISE
    conditions:
      - DRIFT
      - FRACTURE
      - REPAIR
  habitat_level:
    id: CA-HABITAT-01
  observation_date: 2026
  confidence:
    capability: high
    lifecycle: medium
    habitat: high

Humanity@2026 =
C4-late / CRUISE[DRIFT,FRACTURE,REPAIR] / H1

secondary_state_vector:
  B:
    id: basefloor_health
    range: 0.0_to_1.0
  E:
    id: ecological_condition
    range: 0.0_to_1.0
  I:
    id: institutional_capacity
    range: 0.0_to_1.0
  G:
    id: control_geometry
    type: categorical_plus_distribution
  N:
    id: information_condition
    range: 0.0_to_1.0
  R:
    id: regenerative_capacity
    range: 0.0_to_1.0
  D:
    id: dependency_load
    range: 0.0_to_1.0
  X:
    id: risk_exposure
    range: 0.0_to_1.0
  V:
    id: motion_vector
    type: multidimensional

FullCoordinate =
(C, L, H | B, E, I, G, N, R, D, X, V)

motion_vector:
  direction:
    capability:
      - rising
      - stable
      - falling
    lifecycle:
      - takeoff
      - climb
      - cruise
      - descent
    habitat:
      - extending
      - stable
      - retracting
    repair:
      - strengthening
      - neutral
      - weakening
  velocity:
    - slow
    - moderate
    - rapid
  confidence:
    - low
    - medium
    - high

motion_vector:
  capability: rising
  lifecycle: cruise_toward_descent
  habitat: slowly_extending
  repair: contested
  velocity: moderate
  confidence: medium

temporal_rule: >
  Every coordinate is a dated observation, not a permanent
  identity attached to the civilisation.

Coordinate(system, 1500)
≠
Coordinate(system, 1800)
≠
Coordinate(system, 2026)

coordinate_history:
  object_id: required
  observations:
    - date: required
      coordinate: required
      evidence: required
      confidence: required

scale_rule:
  required_fields:
    - object_id
    - system_level
    - spatial_scope
    - temporal_scope

A city, state and planetary civilisation
must not silently share one coordinate.

coordinates:
  - object: Singapore
    system_level: state
    coordinate: C4 / CRUISE[REPAIR] / H1
  - object: Human Civilisation
    system_level: planetary
    coordinate: C4 / CRUISE[DRIFT,FRACTURE,REPAIR] / H1

multi_coordinate_rule: >
  A civilisation may contain regions, institutions or populations
  operating at different capability and lifecycle positions.

coordinate_distribution:
  target_object: required
  dominant_coordinate: required
  internal_variants:
    - subobject_id: required
      coordinate: required
      population_weight: optional
      system_weight: optional

Civilisation Coordinate ≠ Civilisation Uniformity

coordinate_confidence:
  very_high:
    definition: direct_and_widely_supported
  high:
    definition: strong_evidence_with_minor_uncertainty
  medium:
    definition: plausible_but_interpretive
  low:
    definition: incomplete_or_disputed
  unknown:
    definition: insufficient_evidence

confidence:
  capability: required
  lifecycle: required
  habitat: required
  secondary_vector: optional

function validate_coordinate(coordinate):
    require(coordinate.target_object)
    require(coordinate.observation_date)
    require(valid_capability_id)
    require(valid_lifecycle_phase)
    require(valid_habitat_id)
    require(system_level)
    require(evidence_ids)
    require(confidence)
    reject(mixed_stage_ladders)
    reject(permanent_undated_coordinate)
    reject(habitat_claim_without_dependency_test)
    reject(capability_claim_based_only_on_invention)
    return VALID

canonical_rule: >
  Civilisation must be located through separate capability,
  lifecycle and habitat dimensions. No single ranking may substitute
  for the three-axis coordinate, and no coordinate may be treated
  as timeless, uniform or independent of evidence.

CAPABILITY LOCATES WHAT CAN BE DONE.
LIFECYCLE LOCATES SYSTEM MOTION.
HABITAT LOCATES SURVIVAL INDEPENDENCE.
CONDITION FLAGS LOCATE DAMAGE AND REPAIR.
THE STATE VECTOR ADDS RESOLUTION.
THE DATE PREVENTS FALSE PERMANENCE.
THE SCALE PREVENTS FALSE UNIFORMITY.