We the People — Neuron Lens

Coherent mapping of The Economist's five GOP "tribes" (Aug 29, 2025) onto your neuron: 6↔Physics, 9↔Biology, 12↔Society; Soma→Axon→Effectors→Feedback.

Clocking the Inputs

6 o'clock = PHYSICS (θ / first dendrite): entropy sampling of reality; costs, feasibility; *beyond good & evil* constraints.
9 o'clock = BIOLOGY (Σ / second dendrite): rituals, habits, institutions — linear routines that “worked before,” pushing reliable firings toward 3 o'clock.
12 o'clock = SOCIETY (h(t) / third dendrite): ideology & strategy; identity threats/opportunities; worthy adversaries force pivots.

Anything not clearly an input belongs to soma/axon/efferents/effectors/feedback (placements below).

Afferent Dendrites → where the five tribes plug in

Culture Warriors

Primary: 12 (Social/Ideology) — sacred-order narrative under siege; strong identity salience.

Secondary: 9 (Rituals) — church & community habits; some 6 (Physics) when crime/security bite.

Gate: Moral-order salience opens; contradictions tolerated if identity is affirmed.

Economic Populists

Primary: 12 — “forgotten towns” fairness & dignity frame.

Secondary: 6 — wages/prices/closures; sometimes 9 via union/trade routines.

Gate: Material stress (cost/closure) opens; redistribution beats small-government catechism.

Neocons

Primary: 12 — America-as-guarantor civilizational story.

Secondary: 6 — deterrence math; 9 — institutional GOP memory.

Gate: Security posture spikes → intervention clears thresholds despite cost.

Isolationists

Primary: 6 (Physics) — avoid quagmires; sovereignty first; resource guardrails.

Secondary: 12 — protect home; sometimes 9 — localist traditions.

Gate: Resource drain / risk shuts interventions; entanglement alarms.

Moderates

Primary: 9 (Rituals/Proceduralism) — incremental, process-first.

Secondary: 6 (Feasibility) and 12 (Harmony) at lower intensity.

Gate: Process viability + cost–benefit; balk at high-conflict identity spikes.

Soma (e) — the readout you want

Fuse the orthogonal inputs on three axes:

Moral Order (culture-war strictness)
Security Posture (interventionist ↔ isolationist)
Distribution (market-first ↔ redistributive)

Coarse placements:

Culture Warriors: High Order • Mixed Security • Market-leaning
Economic Populists: Medium Order • Mixed Security • Redistributive
Neocons: Medium Order • Interventionist • Market-leaning
Isolationists: Medium Order • Isolationist • Mixed
Moderates: Low–Medium Order • Mixed Security • Mixed/Pragmatic

Soma rule: open gates when (a) Order threat is acute, (b) Security risk crosses threshold, or (c) Distribution stress surges. Weight by who is dominating attention (your h(t) window).

Axon → Effectors — productive incoherence

The axon compresses a single coalition signal that must remain just coherent enough across terminals—even if policies conflict.

Tariffs: +Culture Warriors, +Economic Populists; −Moderates/Business conservatives.
Medicaid trims: +Culture Warriors / fiscal right; −Economic Populists / rural systems.
Ukraine/Israel posture: +Neocons if forceful; −Isolationists if costly/protracted.

Different terminals (House, Senate, Executive, states, donors, media) each receive the bit they need; their returns form the feedback that re-weights gates tomorrow.

Where the non-input categories go

Institutions (House/Senate/Executive): Effectors with distinct packet needs; outputs → Feedback (polls, primaries, $).
Tribal power & sizes (who wins primaries vs generals): Gates + Feedback. Primaries lower CW gates; generals raise them.
Leader cueing (blessing a successor): 12 o'clock clock-setter that shifts soma weights and thresholds.
2028 challenge: Soma discipline + Axon messaging: fuse without tripping veto gates on any dendrite.

SVG tweak cheatsheet

12 o'clock label → SOCIAL / IDEOLOGY (strategic pivot)
9 o'clock label → BIOLOGY / RITUALS (linear routines)
6 o'clock label → PHYSICS / ENTROPY (reality sampling)
SOMA caption → fuse(Order, Security, Distribution)
Effectors captions (examples):
Tariffs → +CW,+Pop; −Mods/Business Medicaid trims → +CW; −Populists/Rural Foreign policy → +Neocons; −Isolationists

One-line takeaway

Trump’s durable edge is keeping the 12/9/6 gates open just enough, then fusing into an axonal packet that feels coherent to every effector—even when packets are mutually tense. His successor must master that hazard-timed gatekeeping or the coalition de-synchronizes.

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