The stillness only exists in relation.
And the relation only exists because of the stillness.
One pattern. Many expressions.
Relational Dynamics Theory (RDT) proposes that existence is a single, oscillatory process. Time, gravity, consciousness, and change are not separate phenomena but expressions of one pattern: a substrate that relates to itself.
From this foundation, a stack of seven tenets can be derived, each following necessarily from the one before it. From substrate to dynamics, from process to observer, from governance to education to ethics.
The theory is open. The applied frameworks that make it operational are where the craft lives.
The foundational stack. From self-reference as substrate to the ethical obligations that follow. Each tenet derived from the one before it.
Read the tenetsThe full framework. Oscillatory existence, observer-dependent time, dark matter as phase-shifted energy, and empirical predictions.
Read the paperRDT made operational. A relational data architecture where multiple classification systems coexist, interact, and evolve dynamically within a single field. Meaning is dynamic. Coherence is measurable. Decisions are auditable across ontologies.
Read the principlesMelanie Louise Phillips is a systems thinker, polymath, and practitioner with over twenty-five years of experience delivering major capital programmes across energy, defence, and nuclear infrastructure. Her work spans multi-attribute decision analysis, sustainability impact assessment, and governance architecture for complex systems, including AI agents.
She is the originator of Relational Dynamics Theory and the Multi-Ontological Lifecycle Framework (MOLF). She thinks in chords, holds paradox, and sees pattern where others see partition. She believes the answers are hiding in plain sight, and that the same pattern governs everything, if you learn to see the function beneath the domain.
Solent Seascape Blue Carbon Ambassador. Creator of the Girls in Green Futures programme.
The truth is open-source. The craft that makes it operational in complex environments is where the professional work lives. If you need the theory implemented, get in touch.