Minimum Interpretive Stability Preconditions

Provenance Integrity

Definition
The ability to trace each interpretive input to its original source, context, and transformation history.

Stability Requirement
Interpretation remains stable only when the origin, modification, and lineage of each contributing signal are preserved and visible.

Failure Mode
When signals are merged without clear lineage, downstream meaning inherits false authority and cannot be safely challenged or revised.

Temporal Compatibility

Definition
The alignment of signals in time such that they meaningfully describe the same state or interval.

Stability Requirement
Interpretation requires that inputs reflect comparable temporal horizons or that misalignment is explicitly represented.

Failure Mode
When asynchronous or stale signals are fused as if simultaneous, meaning appears coherent but describes no real moment.

Contradiction Preservation

Definition
The capacity to retain and represent unresolved disagreement between signals without forcing convergence.

Stability Requirement
Interpretation remains stable only when contradiction can exist without being collapsed into a single claim.

Failure Mode
When systems require contradiction to be resolved prematurely, false coherence replaces uncertainty.

Uncertainty Visibility

Definition
The explicit representation of confidence limits, ambiguity, and unknowns within an interpretive output.

Stability Requirement
Meaning remains stable only when uncertainty is visible at the point of decision, not abstracted away.

Failure Mode
When uncertainty is hidden or stripped, interpretations harden beyond what evidence can support.

Continuity Alignment

Definition
The consistency of interpretation across time, transitions, and decision phases.

Stability Requirement
Interpretation must evolve coherently as conditions change, preserving continuity between prior and current states.

Failure Mode
When interpretations reset, jump, or contradict earlier states without explanation, decision continuity collapses.

Boundary Respect

Definition
The recognition and preservation of limits between domains, authorities, and interpretive scopes.

Stability Requirement
Interpretation remains stable only when domain boundaries are acknowledged and not implicitly overridden.

Failure Mode
When signals are treated as interchangeable across domains, meaning absorbs implications it cannot safely carry.

Refusal Capacity

Definition
The structural ability to decline, defer, or withhold a final interpretation when stability conditions are unmet.

Stability Requirement
Interpretation remains safe only when non-decision or unresolved states are permitted.

Failure Mode
When systems require a definitive output regardless of instability, meaning is forced past its load-bearing capacity.