Capacity

Question

How do inherited conditions become durable capability, and when does capability turn into obligation?

This path is an authored argument through the graph. It does not attempt to cover every dossier; it selects a sequence in which each page changes the meaning of the page before it.

Audience and length

This path is designed for a first sustained reading of the Rulebook and takes roughly 45–70 minutes, depending on whether linked branches are followed. Readers already familiar with the atlas can use the numbered list as a compact synthesis.

Reading order

1. Place and Resources
   Begin with Place and Resources, which establishes the first conditions and vocabulary for the path.

2. Settlement and Site Selection
   After Place and Resources, this step shifts the scale of analysis to Settlement and Site Selection: an output or constraint from the previous page becomes an input here.

3. Food Surplus and Population Growth
   After Settlement and Site Selection, this step shifts the scale of analysis to Food Surplus and Population Growth: an output or constraint from the previous page becomes an input here.

4. Housing and Carrying Capacity
   After Food Surplus and Population Growth, this step shifts the scale of analysis to Housing and Carrying Capacity: an output or constraint from the previous page becomes an input here.

5. Construction and Opportunity Cost
   After Housing and Carrying Capacity, this step shifts the scale of analysis to Construction and Opportunity Cost: an output or constraint from the previous page becomes an input here.

6. Districts and Urban Specialization
   After Construction and Opportunity Cost, this step shifts the scale of analysis to Districts and Urban Specialization: an output or constraint from the previous page becomes an input here.

7. Power and Electrification
   After Districts and Urban Specialization, this step shifts the scale of analysis to Power and Electrification: an output or constraint from the previous page becomes an input here.

8. Inputs Matter Through Conversion Chains
   After Power and Electrification, this step shifts the scale of analysis to Inputs Matter Through Conversion Chains: an output or constraint from the previous page becomes an input here.

9. Growth Slows at Carrying Limits
   After Inputs Matter Through Conversion Chains, this step shifts the scale of analysis to Growth Slows at Carrying Limits: an output or constraint from the previous page becomes an input here.

10. Infrastructure Creates Recurring Obligations
    After Growth Slows at Carrying Limits, this step shifts the scale of analysis to Infrastructure Creates Recurring Obligations: an output or constraint from the previous page becomes an input here.

Synthesis prompt

At the end, reconstruct the causal chain without game terminology. Which stocks accumulated? Which conversions required institutions? Where did a threshold or network change the outcome? Which costs appeared only after the capability succeeded? Then list the historical evidence that would be necessary before treating that chain as more than a model.

Optional branches

• Return to the relevant system maps to compare mechanisms omitted from the main path.
• Follow any rule’s countervailing mechanisms to find a competing explanation.
• Use mechanism-kind tags to cross from this guided sequence into the wider graph.