Ratio Inversion Diagnostic (RID) A Pre-Form Tool for Identifying External Blockages and Misplaced Constraints

Abstract This preprint introduces the Ratio Inversion Diagnostic (RID), a domain-independent tool for revealing structural blockages and constraint misplacement prior to design, optimisation, or intervention. The RID operates by inverting paired ratios of coupled quantities and observing whether resistance, saturation, or accumulation becomes apparent without invoking causal narratives. By exposing where imbalance manifests when perspective is reversed, the RID provides a physics-first method for locating external versus internal constraints while preserving restraint and stopping conditions. The tool is applicable across physical, biological, infrastructural, organisational, and cognitive systems, and is intended for use before form selection. Keywords ratio inversion; diagnostic tool; constraint detection; external blockage; pre-form analysis; systems diagnostics; rate mismatch; structural analysis; failure detection; domain-independent methods