Ambient Power — Thermodynamic Stability as a Non-Extractive Power Model (2026)

Abstract Ambient Power is a non-extractive, thermodynamic form of power that stabilizes human cognition by increasing environmental carrying capacity rather than applying pressure, prediction, or control. Unlike traditional power systems rooted in acceleration, scarcity, and behavioral extraction, Ambient Power scales through coherence, warmth, and reversible stress. It is not directional, coercive, or instrumental. Instead, it operates as a climate: a background condition in which attention remains intact, agency remains wide, and trust becomes the structural binding force of civilization. This document formalizes Ambient Power as the post-extractive alternative to kinetic power, describing its mechanisms, scaling laws, thermodynamic constraints, and its position within the Raynor Stack (time → attention → ϟA → warmth → ambience → aura → field). It establishes why Ambient Power cannot be weaponized, why it supersedes optimization-based architectures, and why it forms the minimal viable power model for humane AI systems, ambient interfaces, and field-based civilizational stability.