System Diagnosis. Vertical of Fear

This project is an intellectual, artistic, and philosophical inquiry within the #ExtraCreditProblem series. 

The descriptions, metaphors, and imagery used herein represent an allegorical reflection on systemic crises, political regimes, and processes of dehumanization. 

This material does not constitute a legal indictment or a conventional journalistic investigation; it is a dissection of reality through the lens of ethics and systemic analysis. 

Names of individuals are mentioned solely as they appear in open international sources and human rights reports.

This work is protected and strictly prohibited from use by third parties for the purposes of propaganda, justification of terrorism, or the legitimization of criminal regimes. 

Any citation or use of this project's materials to support aggression or conceal crimes against humanity is illegitimate. 

The project is open for free use by organizations and individuals dedicated to defending freedom, human rights, and the struggle against despotism.

III. Diagnosis of the System

Vertical of Fear

The tower is built not of stone, but of people pressed down by the weight of those above. It is a construction of pure pressure: each successive level is heavier than the last, for it carries within it the fear of the leadership's wrath. The lower links tremble — not out of weakness, but from the impossibility of endlessly holding this bloody burden on their shoulders. At the very top, where there should be meaning and a future, emptiness reigns, feverishly trying to maintain balance.

This system is held together not by trust or rules, but by the vertical transmission of fear. Pressure moves downward, responsibility is pushed upward, and no level possesses autonomy. Fear replaces law, orders replace process, loyalty replaces competence. The mechanism does not produce stability; it merely postpones collapse.

Each link functions as a temporary support, fully aware of its disposability. The system does not protect its components — it consumes them. Control requires ever-increasing effort, because fear does not bind; it dries the connections and makes the structure brittle.

When a person at the base of this tower straightens their shoulders or takes a step aside, the entire hierarchy begins to crumble. It turns out that the monolith of the regime is an optical illusion that holds only as long as each element agrees to be a support for its executioner.

At this point, a person feels a loud silence of realization. It is the state of a sensor recording that the weight from above is no longer inevitable, and one’s own step is the end of the tower itself.

The human here is not a subject, but a sensor of impending failure.

Fear is a glue that dries out in the light.

Alt-text:

A grotesque tower of people in uniforms and official suits standing on each other's shoulders. The bottom figures tremble under the strain, their faces expressing terror. At the very top, a tiny figure of a tyrant balances over a black void. Grotesque.

#DiagnosisOfSystem #Iran #PoliticalDesign #PivtorakStudio #MemoryOn #VerticalOfFear #ExtraCreditProblem #EthicalResonance #TheAsteriskProblem #StarSolution #ReleasedPhantomNodes #Peace #Freedom #Dictatorship #Dictator #CriminalPower #SystemicFear #Hierarchy #Repression #Authoritarianism #Control #Fragility #Instability #AfterTragedy #HumanSensor #StructuralViolence #SystemFailure

Extra Credit Problem. System Diagnosis. 🔔 Ethical Resonance. Pivtorak.Studio. 20.01.2026

https://www.instagram.com/pivtorak.studio

🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical study. All images are allegorical. The material is based on data from verified international sources.

Vertical of Fear

Series: #DiagnosisOfSystem

Project: Extra Credit Problem (The Asterisk Problem)

[GIVEN]:

Power in Iran is built on the principle of unconditional hierarchy of coercion. Every link in the system—from the rank-and-file security officer to the minister—acts not out of conviction, but through pressure from above. 

Facts: The IRGC (Pasdaran) and Basij structures are maintained through internal espionage and a system of "collective blood guilt." Everyone who suppresses protesters is themselves under the sights of internal security. In January 2026, we witness this tower beginning to vibrate: as the lower links (rank-and-file executors) lose their footing due to the sheer scale of the protests, the top finds itself in a state of weightlessness over the abyss.

[PARAMETERS OF ASYMMETRY]:

Weight vs. Support: The higher the link, the more pressure it exerts, yet the less it controls the stability of the foundation.

Tension vs. Loyalty: Fear mimics unity, but in reality, it creates maximum tension that leads to the snapping of the chain.

Center vs. Periphery: An order from the center loses its force when the executor on the ground sees the tower beneath them swaying.

[ANALYSIS]:

The "Vertical of Fear" is a diagnosis of a system that lacks internal integrity. It is not a monolith; it is a stack of bodies where everyone is afraid to fall while simultaneously fearing the person above. We visualize this fragility: the dictatorship appears mighty only until the bottom link takes a step aside. As soon as fear ceases to be the "glue," the tower turns into a heap of random elements.

Key Phrase: "Fear is a glue that dries out in the light."

[CONCLUSION]:

A system built on fear is destined for collapse the moment the tension exceeds the endurance limit of the lower links. 

We are recording this vibration. 

A vertical that has no roots in the people's will is merely a matter of time and the light that reveals the cracks.

Extra Credit Problem. Diagnosis Of System. 📐 Systemic Solution Manifesto. Pivtorak.Studio. 20.01.2026

https://www.instagram.com/pivtorak.studio

🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical study. All images are allegorical. The material is based on data from verified international sources.