Anomics

A project about why modern life feels hard to finish — even when everyone is trying, the rules are clear, and the system is “working.”

Start here: How to Read Anomics 

Read the core essays

Not self-help. Not politics. A structural diagnosis of non-settlement: when systems keep running but stop concluding.

What’s the problem?

Decisions don’t bind — things get “decided” but keep reopening.

Processes don’t end — review becomes the outcome.

Time doesn’t close accounts — the past stays active forever.

What Anomics means

Anomics studies settlement: the ordinary function that lets disputes close, roles end, and obligations discharge. Many modern systems preserve activity, procedure, and memory — while losing the ability to conclude.

Choose a reader path

General (10–20 minutes)

Read the pieces that explain the project fast, without jargon.

How to Read

Anomics — A Summary

Core Framework (60–120 minutes)

Read the seven core essays in the intended order.

Start the core sequence

Academic / Method

“Macro/Micro typology + negative design method.

Framework 

Anomics as Negative Design Science 

The Core Essays

Core Essays

  1. How to Read Anomics
  2. Anomics — A Summary
  3. Orientation 
  4. Anomie: Why It Keeps Failing
  5. Uneven Anomie
  6. Recognition Without Verdict 
  7. Anomics as Negative Design Science

Mechanism Essays

  1. Authority After Authorization
  2. Procedure Without Verdict
  3. Memory Without Forgetting
  4. When Instruments Become Environments
  5. Dynamic Hedging Beyond Markets
  6. Excellence Without Escape
  7. Life in Anomie

The Books

diagnostic applications

These books apply the same framework to specific domains.

What this is not

  • Not self-help or “life hacks”
  • Not a political program
  • Not nostalgia for older institutions
  • Not blaming individuals
  • Not moral panic about modernity
  • Not “everything is broken” doom

Start here