Why Inertia Is Not Resistance, but Memory

On persistence under transport

Scope: Foundational
Mode: Science (Σ-clean)
Primary Frame: Persistent transported frames

1. The Miscast Role of Inertia

Inertia is usually described as resistance to change. This framing assumes that change is primary and persistence is secondary. The opposite is true.

2. Motion Requires No Explanation

In an inertial frame, motion persists without force. This is not a special case. It is the baseline condition of transport. What requires explanation is deviation in description.

3. Inertia as Frame Memory

Inertia is the tendency of a system to preserve its state during transport. It is not opposition. It is memory — the retention of prior state across time.

4. Mass as Memory Density

Mass quantifies how strongly a system preserves its state under transport. Higher mass corresponds to deeper persistence, not greater resistance.

5. Acceleration Is a Description Cost

Acceleration signals a mismatch between frame memory and imposed constraints. It is not evidence of an acting force, but of a frame that no longer co-moves.

6. Non-Inertial Frames Reveal Memory

When frames accelerate or rotate, inertial effects appear. These are not forces acting on matter. They are manifestations of memory viewed from a drifting frame.

7. The Inertia Position

Inertia is persistence. Mass is memory density. Forces are bookkeeping terms introduced when frames fail to track what systems remember.