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Theophysics Research • Series 6.2

Appendix: America Index

A Quantitative Framework for Civilizational Entropy, 1958–2025

David Lowe • Theophysics Institute

10
Parts
67
Years of Data
5
FACTS Pillars
7
Family Stories
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Critical Thresholds[8]

1962[9?]
Engel v. Vitale— Supreme Court removes prayer from public schools.[10?]Within one generation, every FACTS metric begins declining.
1968[11?]
Phase Transition Begins — SAT scores peak, social trust begins declining, divorce rate accelerates. The inflection point across multiple independent datasets.
1971[12?]
Nixon Shock — Dollar decoupled from gold. Monetary integrity severed. Real wages decouple from productivity. Economic morality becomes phantom.
1973[13?]
Roe v. Wade — Sanctity of life redefined by judicial fiat. Moral consequence separated from personal choice by institutional decree.
2008[14?]
Financial Crisis & Smartphone Saturation — Institutional trust collapses below recovery threshold. Algorithmic attention capture begins. The observer starts dissolving.

A Note on Methodology

This series applies thermodynamic modeling to social data — not as metaphor, but as structural isomorphism. When entropy increases in a closed system, it does not reverse spontaneously. The same mathematics that governs phase transitions in physics (ice to water, water to steam) maps precisely onto the observed social data: gradual degradation, acceleration past critical thresholds, and irreversibility without external energy input.

Every claim is sourced. Every metric is longitudinal. The FACTS framework was constructed to be falsifiable: if any pillar showed recovery, the thesis would weaken. None has.

Begin the Series

Start with the Introduction for the full framework, or jump directly to any chapter.

Read Part 01: Introduction

10 parts • ~4[15][2]5,000 words • 200+ cited data points

Related Work

Core article, supporting evidence, and broader context

Ring 1 — This Article[16] The core argument

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Ring 2 — Supporting Evidence[17] Deeper dives and formal treatments

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Ring 3 — Broader Context[19][18] Related topics across the framework

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