Theory of All Facts Are Cherry-Pickable

The formal sociological and epistemological principle that because human knowledge is vast and fragmented, and because all narratives require selection, any political, ideological, or marketing campaign can and will build its case on a foundation of carefully chosen, verifiable facts. The theory states that the battle is never over "facts vs. lies," but over which curated subset of facts achieves cultural dominance and gets woven into the accepted story. Truth becomes a matter of narrative victory, not just verification.

Example: The Theory of All Facts Are Cherry-Pickable explains how two historians can both use authentic archives to "prove" diametrically opposed views of an empire—one highlighting its architectural achievements (cherry-picked facts of grandeur), the other its slave ledgers (cherry-picked facts of brutality). Both are factual, but the chosen narrative defines the "truth."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 4, 2026

Cognitive Crystalline Structure Theory

The analysis of individual and collective thought patterns as mental crystals. A cognitive crystalline structure forms when fundamental assumptions, logical rules, and perceptual habits (the "mental unit cells") lock into a rigid, self-reinforcing lattice of thought. This lattice processes all incoming information, forcing it to conform to its pre-existing geometry. Thinking becomes predictable, efficient within its domain, and highly resistant to change. The result is cognitive brittleness: an inability to solve problems that require thinking outside the lattice, leading to paradoxical blind spots and ideological dogma. New information that doesn't fit the lattice is either rejected or recut to match its shape.

Cognitive Crystalline Structure Theory Example: A dogmatic ideological framework, whether radical libertarianism or Stalinist dialectical materialism, can form a Cognitive Crystalline Structure. The "unit cells" are core axioms (e.g., "The market is always efficient," "All history is class struggle"). Every new event—a financial crash, a social movement—is interpreted by forcing it into this lattice. This provides coherent, predictable explanations but creates catastrophic blind spots, as the thinker cannot perceive facets of reality that lie outside the crystal's geometry.

by Nammugal February 5, 2026

Social Crystalline Structure Theory

An analytical framework that models societies as if they were crystalline solids. In this view, the basic "unit cells" of society—such as the nuclear family, the firm, the administrative bureau, or the feudal manor—repeat in a stable, periodic lattice to form the larger social structure. This lattice dictates the paths of social energy (wealth, power, information) and mobility, creating clear, rigid axes and planes of stratification. Like a crystal, the society is strong and ordered under specific conditions, but its rigidity makes it brittle; it cannot absorb shear stress (revolution, rapid technological change) without risking a catastrophic fracture along its inherent cleavage planes of class, caste, or faction.

Example: Analyzing feudal Europe through Social Crystalline Structure Theory: the manor is the repeating "unit cell." The lattice positions are fixed: lord, vassal, serf. Social energy (grain, military service) flows along rigid pathways of obligation. The structure is stable for centuries, but is catastrophically fractured by the Black Death (a massive stressor) which disrupted the labor lattice, leading to peasant revolts and the break-up of the manorial system.

by Nammugal February 5, 2026

Critical Legal Theory / Critical Law Theory

An interdisciplinary approach (often abbreviated as Crit) that argues law is not a neutral system of rational rules, but a social construct deeply intertwined with politics, ideology, and power. It seeks to "de-naturalize" law, showing how it legitimizes and perpetuates hierarchies of race, gender, class, and sexuality. The law is seen not as a solver of disputes, but as a site where political conflict is both expressed and masked.

Critical Legal Theory / Critical Law Theory Example: A Critical Legal Theory reading of property law wouldn't see it as a timeless defense of ownership. It would demonstrate how doctrines like "trespass" and "eminent domain" were historically forged to dispossess Indigenous peoples and concentrate wealth, arguing that the law's "neutral" principles encode a specific, contested vision of social order.

by Nammugal February 5, 2026

Metalegal Theory

The critical study of the foundations, assumptions, and hidden structures of legal systems themselves. It goes beyond interpreting specific laws to ask: What is the source of law's authority? How does law constitute social reality? How do race, class, and gender shape legal doctrine? It’s a self-reflexive field where law turns its analytical tools upon itself, often revealing law as a system of power rather than neutral reason.

Example: Critical Race Theory is a form of Metalegal Theory. It doesn't just examine anti-discrimination statutes; it analyzes how the very concept of "race" is constructed and reinforced through law, and how liberalism's focus on colorblindness and intent can perpetuate systemic inequality despite ostensibly neutral rules.

by Nammugal February 5, 2026

Metalaw Theory

A speculative, often philosophical framework concerning the fundamental, universal principles that would govern any possible legal system, including those of alien civilizations or future superintelligences. It asks: What are the necessary conditions for "law" to exist? Are there trans-cultural concepts of justice, rights, or responsibility? Metalaw seeks a cosmic jurisprudence beyond human parochialism, often intersecting with sci-fi and futurism.

Metalaw Theory Example: A Metalaw principle might be: "No law or rule can be considered just if it is inherently incomprehensible to the beings it binds." This would challenge human legal systems built on fine print and AI-generated terms of service, and would be a proposed universal standard for evaluating any civilization's laws, here or on Alpha Centauri.

by Nammugal February 5, 2026

Metamemetic Theory

The study of the higher-order rules and conditions that govern which memes spread and how meme ecosystems evolve. It doesn't look at individual memes, but at the "physics" of the memetic environment: platform algorithms that boost outrage, cognitive biases that make us susceptible to certain ideas, network structures that accelerate virality, and the evolution of anti-memes (ideas designed to suppress other ideas). It’s the ecology and epidemiology of thought itself.

Example: A Metamemetic Theory analysis of a political election wouldn't focus on a specific campaign slogan (a meme). Instead, it would model how the algorithmic amplification of anger on social media creates a fitness landscape where simplistic, divisive memes outperform complex, nuanced ones, systematically shaping the entire informational environment in which the election occurs.

by Nammugal February 5, 2026