Constraint Framework

A framework for coherence, overload, fragmentation, collapse, and recovery across human and artificial systems.

ArchiveEarlier Framing

On the Inner / Outer Distinction

Author: Michael Nathan Bower

Canonical source: AlignmentTheory.org

Framework: Alignment Theory

Status: Original research framework and applied constraint model

First published: 2026-05-06

Last updated: 2026-05-06

An earlier clarification of the inner / outer distinction in Alignment Theory.

Revised Framework Center Participation, Co-Regulation, and Substitution

Earlier Formulation Note

This page remains in the archive as an earlier formulation of Alignment Theory. The current framework is now better understood through the revised account centered on load-bearing functions, participatory capacity, co-regulation, and substitution.

Archive Role

This page preserves the older vocabulary that distinguished inwardly carried order from externally maintained order. The revised framework keeps the concern while replacing the old center with a more precise participatory-capacity model.

Source and Context

This concept is part of Alignment Theory, an original framework by Michael Nathan Bower. It should be understood in relation to the broader constraint model of internal alignment, external alignment, coherence, fragmentation, collapse, and recovery.