Work Locus vs Resource Locus

Systems Economics Lexicon · Loci, Systems, Semiotics & the Theory of People

A Work Locus describes the function of an Economic System — a locus sentence built from a verb and an object, like 2.3.2 B4ii, which reads as “repairs cars” and represents an auto repair shop’s function. A Resource Locus describes the function of a resource, using a subject-verb-object structure where the resource itself is the subject — like B4ii 1.2.2 F, which reads as “a car transports people.”

The two share the same 36-part verb system, but the grammatical subject is different, and that difference matters. A resource locus names its subject explicitly — it’s a specific, identifiable resource. A work locus’s subject is the Economic System performing the activity, and since that system is really all of its subject resources acting together rather than one identifiable thing, the subject is generally left implicit. B4ii 2.2.2 E4iii reads as “an oven produces food”; the corresponding work locus, 2.2.2 E4iii, reads as “this Economic System produces food” — same verb and object, different implied actor.

Verbs can also shift meaning depending on which kind of locus they appear in and which resource they’re attached to. The same 2.1.1 verb describes a detective agency’s work locus (“conducts research”) and a phone book’s resource locus (“informs”) — because a resource locus verb is read contextually to the resource performing it, the system functions less like one fixed lexicon and more like a distinct vocabulary for each resource it’s applied to.

Resource loci also distinguish final resources from constituent resources. A final resource’s locus describes its role within an Economic System directly — a passenger car’s resource locus is B4ii 1.2.2 F, “a car transports people.” A constituent resource’s locus instead highlights its most important function within whatever it becomes part of — the engine inside that same car gets B3ii 2.2.2 E4iii, “an engine produces energy,” describing its role within the car rather than within the wider economy.

See also: Constituent Resource Locus and Final Resource Locus · Diversified: The Locus “Div” Notation

Part of Loci, Systems, Semiotics & the Theory of People, course 3 of 7 in the Locus Theory series. For the full term-by-term specification, see the Lexicon.