Erialaliitudes

Erialaliitudes is a coined term used in speculative discourse to quantify the potential or inclination of a system to involve ascent, elevation, or vertical complexity in a given context. It functions as a scalar measure of how readily a space, object, or scenario supports aerial movement, vertical stratification, or elevated perspectives, without implying any specific physics.

Etymology: The term appears to be a portmanteau drawing on 'aerial' and 'altitudes', with a distinctive internal form; first appearances are in online glossaries and worldbuilding forums in the 2010s. There is no standard spelling or unit, and writers vary in hyphenation and capitalization.

Usage and interpretation: In worldbuilding and speculative simulations, erialaliitudes serves as a heuristic to compare environments. A high erialaliitudes suggests abundant vertical connectivity, ease of vertical traversal, and exposure to upper atmospheric layers; a low value implies horizontal, subterranean, or horizontally constrained contexts.

Measurement: There is no formal methodology; proxies include mean vertical degree of freedom, average distance to vertical connectors, or normalized counts of vertical paths. In narrative design, it is often qualitative, described as low, medium, or high.

Applications: The concept finds use in fiction worldbuilding, urban design simulations, and game mechanics, guiding layout, transportation subsystems, and sensor coverage.

Limitations: It is informal, subjective, and context-dependent; not recognized by formal science.

Example: A cloud-city with elevated corridors would have high erialaliitudes, whereas a deep cave network would have low.

See also: Altitude, Aerial, Worldbuilding, Mobility metrics