From Boundaries to Retention: A Processual Ontology of Measure in Complex Systems

Contemporary theories of stability–homeostasis, attractors, and resilience–describe states but fail to explain the mechanism by which systems retain identity under continuous fluctuation. This article proposes a processual ontology of measure that reconceptualizes stability not as equilibrium but as dynamic retention through hierarchical compensation. The core mechanism involves micro-transitions (local exits beyond current limits), compensators with adaptive thresholds, and scale-recursive processes that absorb deviations at each level until compensation resources are exhausted. Time emerges as internal rhythm of this compensation, with polyrhythmia across levels enabling stability or producing crisis through desynchronization. The framework unifies physical, biological, and social systems under a single logic of retention, distinguishing structural from behavioral predictability and establishing principled limits to prediction. Empirical illustrations demonstrate how phase transitions result not from boundary-crossing but from the collapse of compensatory hierarchies when micro-transition scale converges with system scale. The theory offers diagnostic tools for assessing system fragility and intervention strategies that strengthen retention architecture rather than suppress symptoms.