Evren Öztürk
Independent researcher
Author of Physis: A Theory of Power
An independent research program on power dynamics that began in 2012 and has expanded over time into four interconnected strands: a theoretical framework (Physis), a historical synthesis series (Babil), an applied analytical extension (Triade Engine), and a structured chronological recording method (Almanak).
Research program
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Physis
Physis is the theoretical strand — Physis: A Theory of Power and the two paper series built on it: the Physis Series and the Nomos Paradigm Series.
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Babil
Babil is the historical synthesis branch — a three-volume reading of governing classes through the Physis framework.
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Almanak
Almanak is the chronological power-recording branch — a structured method of daily chronological recording, first applied in full to Turkey's 2002–2014 period.
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Triade Engine
Triade Engine is the applied analytical extension of Physis Theory — an applied methodology under proprietary development, with v1.0 release targeted for 2027.
Key concepts
- Corporate entity
- Corporate entities — states, companies, parties, religious orders, institutions — are a hybrid species born from the symbiosis of the human and the idea. Hence the paradox of the corporate entity: it is a product of Nomos, yet it is locked in pure Physis mode. The distinguishing difference is the source of death — for the human it is entropy, and others are allies; for the corporate entity it is others, rivals and the market. That is what pushes it toward singularity.
- Knowledge hegemony
- Established through control of knowledge, expertise or technology; its claim is “The correct knowledge is mine.” Its basis is information asymmetry: whoever holds the knowledge moves into the decisive position, because others cannot test it.
- Nomos
- Nomos is not a second system but a capacity — for conscious choice and meaning. It is born within Physis, at the intersection of memory and death-awareness, in linear temporal consciousness. It is morally neutral: it can run agonistically as well as affiliatively. It generates three derived capacities: choice (acting against what Physis dictates), scale (building systems that outlast an individual life), and temporal symbolic selfhood (placing the "I" in time).
- Physis
- Physis is the embodied form of the universal imperative to survive. It is the default — fast, automatic, requiring no conscious effort, and it cannot be switched off. It carries two independent functions: agonistic (aggression, competition, dominance, the production of leadership), which operates independently of scale, and affiliative (empathy, the sense of justice, reciprocity, repair), which is strong in the immediate circle and stays at its own scale. The two are not opposites.
- Structural asymmetry
- Physis Theory's central thesis. The asymmetry lies in friction, not in strength. At the level of reflex: the affiliative reflex works in the immediate circle and stays at its own scale, while the agonistic reflex operates independently of scale. At the institutional level: scaling the agonistic side is aligned with the decision-maker's interest and therefore meets no resistance, while scaling the balancing side constrains that same power and therefore runs into it — high friction, and constant erosion. It is not determinism: it defines the conditions of the struggle, not its outcome.