Civilizations are systems, not stories.
Treat a civilization as a function of seven variables — population, governance, economy, resources, military, information flow, cultural norms — and most of its history becomes legible. Roman expansion, Ming retreat, Soviet collapse, Singaporean ascent: same schema, different parameter values, different outcomes.
Civilization is parametric.
Treat civilization as a vector in seven dimensions and the comparisons stop being qualitative. Two civilizations with similar values on those axes will fail in similar ways, regardless of which century or continent they occupy.
Collapse is structural, not narrative.
Most collapses are not surprise events. They are slow accumulations of complexity past the point where the resource base can sustain it. Tainter's law, élite overproduction, climate shock, debt cascades — these are reproducible mechanisms, not stories about bad emperors.
Design is possible.
If a civilization is parametric, its parameters are choices. Most of those choices were made unconsciously, by accident or inertia. A civilization could be designed deliberately. The question is whether to copy what works, modify what's mediocre, or attempt something new — and the schema lets you ask that question concretely.
From schema to library to simulation.
The Model
Seven axes that define any civilization. Pull any slider and watch the radar reshape — and the implications appear.
The Library
Ten historical civilizations, each rendered on the same seven axes. Compare any two — Rome vs Ming, Athens vs Singapore — on identical scales.
The Levers
Three control surfaces — governance, economy, information — each compared on stability, throughput, and fragility.
Rise & Collapse
What makes them rise: institution × resource × population compounding. What breaks them: complexity ceilings, élite overproduction, climate shock, debt.
The Simulator
Set the seven variables. Run forward. Watch the civilization grow, stabilize, or decline under random shocks. Save state via URL.