The Tang Papers investigate how contradictions arise in system descriptions when representational roles are conflated, and how these contradictions can often be clarified through disciplined representational separation.
In a world where artificial intelligence can produce convincing responses, organizations struggle to stay aligned, and even scientific models can resist unification, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between what appears coherent and what is structurally consistent.
Independent researcher exploring how representation, coordination, and time organize across complex systems.
My work examines a recurring pattern across science, technology, organizations, and human learning:
Systems often fail not because they lack capability —
but because coordination breaks down as scale, speed, or abstraction increases.
Many contradictions that appear in complex systems arise when different representational roles are confused.
For example:
Scalar descriptions
- quantity
- speed
- accumulation
- measurement
are often applied to phenomena that are fundamentally phase-based, involving:
coordination
- rhythm
- synchronization
- boundary alignment
- structural coherence over time
When this happens, systems may remain technically correct while becoming structurally incoherent or paradoxical.
This diagnostic perspective forms the basis of the Tang Papers research program.
The Tang Papers Research Program
The Tang Papers are an open-access research program exploring how contradictions arise in system descriptions and how they can be clarified through representational discipline.
The program develops a diagnostic framework called:
Phase–Scalar Reconstruction (PSR)
which examines how representational roles are assigned within system descriptions.
The work spans multiple domains including:
- physics interpretation
- artificial intelligence systems
- organizational coordination
- temporal modeling
- human movement and learning
Formal research papers in the Tang Papers corpus are archived with persistent DOIs.
Research Archive
https://www.dancescape.com/research
Zenodo Collection
https://zenodo.org/communities/tang-papers-program
About
Lit Meng (Robert) Tang is an independent researcher based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
My work combines perspectives from mathematics, systems thinking, embodied practice, and cross-domain inquiry.
B.Sc. Mathematics — McMaster University
MBA — Schulich School of Business
Before beginning independent research, Robert worked in marketing and communications in the software industry, translating complex technical concepts into public-facing narratives.
He is also a former Canadian & North American Ballroom Champion and co-founder of danceScape, a dance education community where movement is used to develop confidence, coordination, and connection.
Long-term observation of rhythm, anticipation, and coordination in human movement helped shape many of the questions explored in the Tang Papers research program.
What is The Loom The Loom is a model that explains how structure forms. It describes how systems hold together—not just how they grow. The Core Idea Definition: The Loom
What is Phase Drift? Definition: Phase Drift is a condition where output continues while coordination degrades. A system can: …but at the same time: 👉 lose alignment, structure, and coherence
Recent AI systems are often described as having personality. They are perceived as more expressive, more conversational, and sometimes even unpredictable. This page clarifies how that perception can arise—not from
In many systems, progress is expected to appear as continuous motion. But not all systems move this way. Some remain still for extended periods—and then move all at once. This
Across history, periods of peace and conflict often appear to move in waves. Long stretches of stability can suddenly give way to instability. Institutions that once held systems together begin