GLOSSARY
A
Attention Debt
The cumulative cognitive cost when fragmented environments impose demands exceeding human attentional processing capacity over time. Creates infrastructure breakdown preventing the sustained cognitive engagement required for genuine capability development. Attention debt makes temporal verification necessary because it destroys immediate retention while genuine learning survives temporal gaps.
Axiom
Foundational principle requiring no justification beyond logical necessity. In ReciprocityPrinciple context: when contribution creates lasting capability verified through temporal testing, value must route to contributors measured through same verification proving impact occurred. This is structural necessity, not ethical preference.
B
Bilateral Exchange
Traditional reciprocity model where two parties exchange value directly and immediately. You help me, I help you back. This framework collapses when contribution value becomes measurable through temporal verification and cascade multiplication rather than observable through immediate exchange.
Binary Choice
After measurement infrastructure exists, only two coherent positions remain: route value based on what verification proves, or ignore measurement when routing value despite measurement availability. The latter requires justifying why measurement should be ignored. The former requires no such defense.
C
Capability Persistence
The capacity that survived independently when tested across time without continued assistance. Distinguishes genuine learning from borrowed performance by testing whether capability functions months later under independence conditions. Core measurement dimension for temporal verification protocols.
Cascade Multiplication
Exponential propagation of capability through networks when genuine understanding transfers. When Person A helps Person B who helps Person C independently, each node requires internalization enabling contribution rather than dependency requiring continued assistance. Measured through mathematical network analysis tracking branching patterns.
CascadeProof
Verification methodology tracking contribution multiplication through networks via mathematical branching analysis. Distinguishes exponential multiplication from linear dependency chains by proving each node functions independently. Provides cascade depth and breadth measurements determining proportional value routing.
Contribution Economy
Economic system routing value to verified capability multiplication rather than attention extraction or output generation. Requires Reciprocity Principle establishing how value flows proportional to temporal persistence and cascade multiplication measured through verification protocols.
ContributionGraph
Temporal verification infrastructure proving contributions created lasting capability increases in others. Provides cryptographically signed records that contribution occurred and persisted through independent testing. Foundation for value routing based on verified impact.
Cryptographic Ownership
Mathematical proof establishing contributors own verification records through cryptographic mechanisms preventing platform capture or alteration. Required for accurate value routing because contributors must control proof of impact rather than platforms controlling attribution and capturing value.
D
Delayed Testing
Verification conducted months or years after contribution through independent assessment under conditions proving assistance unavailable. Reveals whether contribution created genuine capability persisting across time or borrowed performance collapsing when conditions changed. Core temporal verification method.
Dependency vs Independence
Critical distinction measured through cascade proof. Help creating dependency requires continued assistance from original contributor—recipient cannot function independently or help others. Help creating independence enables recipient capability functioning alone and multiplying through network as they contribute independently.
E
Engagement Metrics
Immediate measurement of attention capture through views, clicks, time spent, and interaction rates. Systematically decorrelated from verified contribution impact because they measure momentary behavior rather than lasting capability creation. Platforms optimize these because they correlate with advertising revenue despite being decorrelated from actual value.
Exponential Multiplication
Growth pattern where each node enables multiple additional nodes in cascade propagation. One person helps two, those two help four independently, creating exponential rather than linear growth. Proves genuine understanding transferred because multiplication requires each recipient gaining capability enabling them to contribute without continued assistance.
Extractive vs Restorative
Fundamental economic distinction. Extractive systems deplete human capability faster than recovery capacity allows—attention debt, dependency creation, capability degradation. Restorative systems enable capability compounding—verified learning, independence creation, cascade multiplication. Reciprocity Principle routes value to restorative contributions.
F
Felt Obligation
Psychological reciprocity mechanism operating through social pressure and internalized norms. You give me gift, I feel obliged to reciprocate based on perceived generosity rather than measured impact. Easily manipulated and decorrelated from actual value creation. Reciprocity Principle eliminates this by routing value based on verification rather than felt obligation.
Fragmentation
Environmental condition where interruptions arrive faster than cognitive cycles can complete, preventing memory consolidation, executive function, and sustained processing. Creates attention debt and makes immediate assessment unreliable. Temporal verification becomes necessary because fragmentation destroys immediate retention while genuine capability survives temporal gaps.
G
Genuine Capability
Capacity functioning independently when tested months later without continued assistance in novel contexts under comparable difficulty. Distinguished from borrowed performance through temporal verification proving survival across time and independence conditions. What Reciprocity Principle routes value to when verified through measurement.
H
Helmholtz Reciprocity
Physics principle where wave source at point A producing signal at point B means source at B produces same signal at A under equivalent conditions. Example of reciprocity principle applied to specific domain (wave phenomena). Web4 Reciprocity Principle applies same concept to verified contribution networks.
I
Independence Verification
Testing proving capability functions without continued assistance from original contributor. Remove all help, wait temporal gap, test in novel context—if capability survives these conditions, verification proves genuine internalization occurred. Required component of temporal testing protocols.
Internalization
Process transforming external assistance into internal capability that persists independently. Distinguishable from memorization or dependency through temporal verification proving capability survives when assistance ends and time passes. What cascade multiplication requires at each network node.
L
Legal Reciprocity
International law principle where states grant equivalent treatment to each other’s citizens through negotiated treaties. Operates through bilateral agreements between nations establishing mutual respect and equal rights. Different from Reciprocity Principle which operates through individual-level verification measuring actual contribution impact rather than negotiated equivalence.
M
MeaningLayer
Semantic infrastructure enabling AI access to complete human understanding through verified connections rather than platform-fragmented proxies. Makes meaning computationally addressable when fragmentation prevents coherent semantic models. Reciprocity Principle operates through MeaningLayer by routing value through semantic understanding of contribution impact.
Multiplication Depth
Cascade measurement tracking how many network levels contribution propagated through independent nodes. Depth of three means original contribution enabled person who enabled person who enabled person—each functioning independently. Greater depth routes more value proportionally because it proves broader genuine understanding transfer.
N
Network Propagation
How contributions spread through systems as recipients become contributors enabling others. Measured through cascade analysis tracking whether propagation requires continued assistance (dependency chains) or functions independently (genuine multiplication). Core dimension determining proportional value routing.
Neutrality
Principle infrastructure requirement ensuring measurement and value routing operate independently of platform revenue optimization or institutional incentives. Reciprocity Principle must remain neutral protocol preventing capture by entities whose profit depends on routing value inaccurately.
P
PortableIdentity
Cryptographic identity ownership ensuring verification records remain individual property across all platforms. Enables contributors to prove impact and receive value routing regardless of which systems they interact with. Required infrastructure for Reciprocity Principle because value routing depends on contributors owning proof of contribution.
PersistoErgoDidici
”I persist, therefore I learned”—temporal verification principle proving learning through capability persistence when tested independently months after instruction without assistance. Core protocol for educational contribution verification enabling value routing to educators based on verified learning outcomes.
Persistence Verification
Testing protocols measuring whether capability survives across temporal gaps without continued assistance. Delayed independent assessment under comparable difficulty in novel contexts. Proves genuine capability versus borrowed performance through what survives when conditions preventing verification no longer apply.
Proportional Routing
Value routing to contributors measured through verified temporal persistence and cascade multiplication rather than immediate metrics or equal distribution. Contributions creating more lasting impact and broader multiplication route more value proportionally. Core mechanism implementing Reciprocity Principle.
Proxy Metrics
Immediate measurements used as substitutes for actual contribution impact when direct measurement is unavailable. Engagement, completion, credentials serve as proxies when temporal verification doesn’t exist. Become systematically misleading when measurement infrastructure enables direct impact verification making proxies obsolete.
Psychological Reciprocity
Social norm and behavioral pattern where people feel obliged to return favors based on felt generosity and social pressure. Operates through immediate bilateral exchange and unmeasured obligation. Manipulation-prone because no verification proves actual value creation. Completely different from Reciprocity Principle despite sharing terminology.
R
Reciprocity Principle
Value routing framework establishing that compensation routes to contributors proportional to verified temporal persistence and cascade multiplication. Operates through mathematical measurement rather than felt obligation, negotiated agreements, or immediate transactions. Makes contribution economies operationally implementable by specifying how value routes based on verification.
Reciprocal Value Flow
Bidirectional relationship where contributors creating verified lasting capability receive value proportional to measured impact. Not bilateral exchange but temporal verification—value routes back to contributors when measurement proves contribution created capability that persisted and multiplied regardless of immediate exchange occurring.
S
Substrate-Independent
Operating regardless of implementation technology or platform. Reciprocity Principle functions identically whether contributions occur through biological cognition, AI augmentation, or future technologies because it measures outcomes (verified persistence and cascade) rather than processes (how capability was created).
Synthesis-Accessible
Signals that AI can generate perfectly without requiring genuine understanding. All immediate behavioral signals including performance, engagement, and apparent comprehension became synthesis-accessible. Makes temporal verification necessary because only delayed testing under independence conditions proves genuine capability versus synthesized performance.
T
Temporal Verification
Measurement proving contribution created lasting capability through delayed independent testing when assistance is unavailable and time has passed. Core method distinguishing genuine capability from borrowed performance because AI can synthesize perfect immediate signals but cannot create capability surviving temporal gaps when tested independently.
TempusProbatVeritatem
”Time proves truth”—foundational principle establishing temporal verification as necessity when momentary behavioral signals became synthesis-accessible through AI. Time becomes unfakeable dimension because capability either persists when tested independently months later or reveals itself as performance theater collapsing when conditions change.
Transfer Validation
Testing proving capability generalizes beyond specific contexts where it was acquired. If learning occurred in environment A with assistance, can capability apply in environment B without assistance in novel context? Transfer proves internalization because only genuine understanding adapts to unexpected situations.
V
Verification Infrastructure
Technical systems enabling measurement of contribution impact through temporal testing, cascade analysis, and independence protocols. Includes ContributionGraph, CascadeProof, temporal testing protocols, and cryptographic ownership mechanisms. Makes value routing based on verified outcomes possible rather than relying on immediate proxies.
Value Routing
Mechanisms determining how compensation flows to contributors based on measured contribution impact. Reciprocity Principle establishes value routes proportional to verified temporal persistence and cascade multiplication rather than through engagement metrics, completion rates, or platform algorithms.
W
Web2 vs Web4
Web2 operates through platform-controlled algorithms routing value based on engagement metrics and immediate exchange without verification infrastructure. Web4 operates through individual-owned verification protocols routing value based on temporal persistence and cascade multiplication proven through mathematical measurement. Fundamental architectural difference requiring different reciprocity frameworks.
For complete definitions and integration context, see:
- HOME — Core principle explanation
- ABOUT — Concept genealogy
- MANIFESTO — Implementation imperative
- FAQ — Detailed questions
Source: ReciprocityPrinciple.org
Date: January 2026
Version: 1.0