The Stratification Engine: A Recurrent Mechanism of Compound Exclusion

Jie Li

No 3awqz_v1, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: Resource deprivation cuts two ways. It blocks access to new technologies, and scarcity can narrow the cognitive bandwidth needed to use them. I formalise this as the Resource–Technology–Cognitive (RTC) chain, in which disadvantage compounds at the interfaces between layers, so that exclusion multiplies rather than adds. Cognitive inheritance, reconstituted each generation through early-life conditions rather than genetically transmitted, is posited to carry this compound disadvantage across generations unless those conditions change. I trace the chain across eight technological transitions as an illustrative basis, and derive three falsifiable propositions about sequential causation, super-additive amplification, and intergenerational moderation. The AI transition restructures access and skill demands simultaneously, and the next cohort's starting conditions are already forming.

Date: 2026-08-18
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:3awqz_v1

DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/3awqz_v1

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