The Carlo Loop Model: Foundational Mechanics of Contradiction‑Driven Systems

The Carlo Loop Model: Foundational Mechanics of Contradiction‑Driven Systems This paper introduces the Carlo Loop Model, a general systems framework describing how contradiction‑driven loops form, escalate, collapse, and reconstruct. The model identifies a set of structural invariants that remain stable under collapse, a contradiction mechanism that drives loop escalation, and a reset symmetry that governs loop termination. It formalises vantage‑point mechanics to explain how interpretive frames shift during loops and how a reconstructed vantage state—referred to as presence—emerges after collapse. The paper provides mathematical operators for collapse and reconstruction, outlines the behavioural signatures of contradiction saturation, and demonstrates the model’s applicability across cognitive, organisational, ecological, and computational systems. This work establishes the foundational mechanics of the Carlo Loop Model and forms the theoretical basis for subsequent papers on cognitive dynamics and post‑collapse identity reconstruction. Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the band Fleetwood Mac, the first band I ever fell in love with. Their music has been a constant companion across years of thinking, building, and rebuilding ideas. There’s a kind of structural honesty in their sound — the way harmony, tension, and resolution move — that has always reminded me that loops, contradictions, and collapse aren’t just theoretical constructs, they’re part of how humans create, break, and remake meaning. This work was shaped, in its own quiet way, by those early encounters with their music. A quiet R.I.P. to Christine McVie — one of the most wonderful voices I’ve ever heard in my life — and to Peter Green and Danny Kirwan, whose playing and songwriting helped build the foundation the band stood on.