{ "access": { "embargo": { "active": false, "reason": null }, "files": "public", "record": "public", "status": "open" }, "created": "2026-03-13T22:41:19.152832+00:00", "custom_fields": {}, "deletion_status": { "is_deleted": false, "status": "P" }, "files": { "count": 1, "enabled": true, "entries": { "Signal, Nodes, and Nested Order_ A Generative Architecture for Cross-Domain Systems Analysis, A Working Hypothesis v01.pdf": { "access": { "hidden": false }, "checksum": "md5:e8234e94eb65ab5e4bf36f618ac4d47b", "ext": "pdf", "id": "cd0ac9bc-bf02-4b83-b119-d44cad6eaf66", "key": "Signal, Nodes, and Nested Order_ A Generative Architecture for Cross-Domain Systems Analysis, A Working Hypothesis v01.pdf", "links": { "content": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/files/Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf/content", "iiif_api": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346:Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf/full/full/0/default.png", "iiif_base": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346:Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf", "iiif_canvas": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346/canvas/Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf", "iiif_info": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346:Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf/info.json", "self": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/files/Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf" }, "metadata": { "height": 792, "width": 612 }, "mimetype": "application/pdf", "size": 2867504, "storage_class": "L" } }, "order": [], "total_bytes": 2867504 }, "id": "19010346", "is_draft": false, "is_published": true, "links": { "access": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/access", "access_grants": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/access/grants", "access_links": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/access/links", "access_request": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/access/request", "access_users": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/access/users", "archive": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/files-archive", "archive_media": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/media-files-archive", "communities": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/communities", "communities-suggestions": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/communities-suggestions", "doi": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19010346", "draft": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/draft", "file_modification": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/file-modification", "files": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/files", "latest": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/versions/latest", "latest_html": "https://zenodo.org/records/19010346/latest", "media_files": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/media-files", "parent": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010345", "parent_doi": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19010345", "parent_doi_html": "https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.19010345", "parent_html": "https://zenodo.org/records/19010345", "preview_html": "https://zenodo.org/records/19010346?preview=1", "quota_increase": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/quota-increase", "request_deletion": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/request-deletion", "requests": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/requests", "reserve_doi": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/draft/pids/doi", "self": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346", "self_doi": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19010346", "self_doi_html": "https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.19010346", "self_html": "https://zenodo.org/records/19010346", "self_iiif_manifest": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346/manifest", "self_iiif_sequence": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346/sequence/default", "thumbnails": { "10": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346:Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf/full/%5E10,/0/default.jpg", "100": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346:Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf/full/%5E100,/0/default.jpg", "1200": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346:Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf/full/%5E1200,/0/default.jpg", "250": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346:Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf/full/%5E250,/0/default.jpg", "50": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346:Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf/full/%5E50,/0/default.jpg", "750": "https://zenodo.org/api/iiif/record:19010346:Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf/full/%5E750,/0/default.jpg" }, "versions": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/versions" }, "media_files": { "count": 1, "enabled": true, "entries": { "Signal, Nodes, and Nested Order_ A Generative Architecture for Cross-Domain Systems Analysis, A Working Hypothesis v01.pdf.ptif": { "access": { "hidden": true }, "ext": "ptif", "id": "dfbce308-6631-41e9-9821-ab979af857a0", "key": "Signal, Nodes, and Nested Order_ A Generative Architecture for Cross-Domain Systems Analysis, A Working Hypothesis v01.pdf.ptif", "links": { "content": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/files/Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf.ptif/content", "self": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/19010346/files/Signal,%20Nodes,%20and%20Nested%20Order_%20A%20Generative%20Architecture%20for%20Cross-Domain%20Systems%20Analysis,%20A%20Working%20Hypothesis%20v01.pdf.ptif" }, "metadata": null, "mimetype": "application/octet-stream", "processor": { "source_file_id": "cd0ac9bc-bf02-4b83-b119-d44cad6eaf66", "status": "finished", "type": "image-tiles" }, "size": 0, "storage_class": "L" } }, "order": [], "total_bytes": 0 }, "metadata": { "creators": [ { "person_or_org": { "family_name": "Tanner", "given_name": "Christopher", "name": "Tanner, Christopher", "type": "personal" }, "role": { "id": "researcher", "title": { "de": "WissenschaftlerIn", "en": "Researcher" } } } ], "description": "

This paper proposes a generative ontology grounded in two irreducible primitives: nodes and signal. A node is any system of sufficient organizational complexity to receive, process, and retransmit state changes; signal is the propagation of those state changes between nodes. We argue that this two-element grammar provides a coherent account of structural patterns observed across physical, biological, linguistic, and social systems, each representing a higher order of signal modulation nested upon a first-order physical substrate. Drawing on established work in information theory (Shannon, 1948), thermodynamics of self-organization (Prigogine & Stengers, 1984), the informational interpretation of quantum mechanics (Wheeler, 1990), and complex adaptive systems (Kauffman, 1993), the framework situates Signal Alignment Theory (SAT; Tanner, 2025a) within a coherent foundational architecture. We further contend that several major theoretical traditions, in physics, biology, linguistics, and cybernetics, have each been describing distinct organizational levels of the same underlying node-signal structure, and that recognizing this shared grammar enables principled cross-domain comparison and predictive analysis.

", "publication_date": "2026-03-13", "publisher": "Zenodo", "references": [ { "reference": "Ashby, W. R. (1956). An introduction to cybernetics. Chapman & Hall. Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures. Mouton. Hofstadter, D. R. (1979). G\u00f6del, Escher, Bach: An eternal golden braid. Basic Books. Kauffman, S. A. (1993). The origins of order: Self-organization and selection in evolution. Oxford University Press. Prigogine, I., & Stengers, I. (1984). Order out of chaos: Man's new dialogue with nature. Bantam Books. Shannon, C. E. (1948). A mathematical theory of communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27(3), 379\u2013423. Tanner, C. A. (2025a). Signal alignment theory: A universal grammar of systemic change. Aligned Signal Systems Consulting / Zenodo. Tanner, C. A. (2025b). The beast that predicts: AI ethics brought under the light. Aligned Signal Systems Consulting / Zenodo. Wheeler, J. A. (1990). Information, physics, quantum: The search for links. In W. Zurek (Ed.), Complexity, entropy, and the physics of information (pp. 3\u201328). Addison-Wesley. Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics: Or control and communication in the animal and the machine. MIT Press. transformation." } ], "related_identifiers": [ { "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.18001411", "relation_type": { "id": "issupplementedby", "title": { "de": "Wird erg\u00e4nzt durch", "en": "Is supplemented by" } }, "resource_type": { "id": "publication-journal", "title": { "de": "Zeitschrift", "en": "Journal" } }, "scheme": "doi" }, { "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.18150424", "relation_type": { "id": "issupplementto", "title": { "de": "Erg\u00e4nzt", "en": "Is supplement to" } }, "resource_type": { "id": "publication-journal", "title": { "de": "Zeitschrift", "en": "Journal" } }, "scheme": "doi" }, { "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.17217255", "relation_type": { "id": "issupplementto", "title": { "de": "Erg\u00e4nzt", "en": "Is supplement to" } }, "resource_type": { "id": "publication-journal", "title": { "de": "Zeitschrift", "en": "Journal" } }, "scheme": "doi" }, { "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.17716727", "relation_type": { "id": "issupplementto", "title": { "de": "Erg\u00e4nzt", "en": "Is supplement to" } }, "resource_type": { "id": "publication-journal", "title": { "de": "Zeitschrift", "en": "Journal" } }, "scheme": "doi" }, { "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.17866975", "relation_type": { "id": "issupplementedby", "title": { "de": "Wird erg\u00e4nzt durch", "en": "Is supplemented by" } }, "resource_type": { "id": "publication-journal", "title": { "de": "Zeitschrift", "en": "Journal" } }, "scheme": "doi" }, { "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.17587328", "relation_type": { "id": "issupplementto", "title": { "de": "Erg\u00e4nzt", "en": "Is supplement to" } }, "resource_type": { "id": "publication-journal", "title": { "de": "Zeitschrift", "en": "Journal" } }, "scheme": "doi" }, { "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.17244554", "relation_type": { "id": "issupplementto", "title": { "de": "Erg\u00e4nzt", "en": "Is supplement to" } }, "resource_type": { "id": "publication-journal", "title": { "de": "Zeitschrift", "en": "Journal" } }, "scheme": "doi" } ], "resource_type": { "id": "publication-journal", "title": { "de": "Zeitschrift", "en": "Journal" } }, "rights": [ { "description": { "en": "The Creative Commons Attribution license allows re-distribution and re-use of a licensed work on the condition that the creator is appropriately credited." }, "icon": "cc-by-icon", "id": "cc-by-4.0", "props": { "scheme": "spdx", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode" }, "title": { "en": "Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International" } } ], "subjects": [ { "subject": "Information Theory" }, { "subject": "Signal" }, { "subject": "Noise" }, { "subject": "Nodes" }, { "subject": "Nested Order" }, { "subject": "Signal Alignment Theory" }, { "subject": "Claude Shannon" }, { "subject": "Generative Systems Ontology" }, { "subject": "Node-Signal Architecture" }, { "subject": "Complex Systems" }, { "subject": "Cybernetics" }, { "subject": "Information Dynamics" }, { "subject": "Recursive Cognition" }, { "subject": "Dissipative Structures" }, { "subject": "Cross-Domain Systems Analysis" } ], "title": "Signal, Nodes, and Nested Order, A Generative Architecture for Cross-Domain Systems Analysis, A Working Hypothesis" }, "parent": { "access": { "owned_by": { "user": "1370546" }, "settings": { "accept_conditions_text": null, "allow_guest_requests": false, "allow_user_requests": false, "secret_link_expiration": 0 } }, "communities": {}, "id": "19010345", "pids": { "doi": { "client": "datacite", "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.19010345", "provider": "datacite" } } }, "pids": { "doi": { "client": "datacite", "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.19010346", "provider": "datacite" }, "oai": { "identifier": "oai:zenodo.org:19010346", "provider": "oai" } }, "revision_id": 4, "stats": { "all_versions": { "data_volume": 149110208.0, "downloads": 52, "unique_downloads": 43, "unique_views": 88, "views": 91 }, "this_version": { "data_volume": 149110208.0, "downloads": 52, "unique_downloads": 43, "unique_views": 88, "views": 91 } }, "status": "published", "swh": {}, "updated": "2026-03-13T22:41:19.439484+00:00", "versions": { "index": 1, "is_latest": true } }