LAYERS.md

Functional Layers of the Research Program (FP)

Layer 0 — Reality Interface

Function:

• Interaction with reality
• Measurement, observation, effect
• No meaning, no interpretation

Admissible:

• signals
• measurements
• interactions

STOP if:

• meaning or intention is inferred here

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Layer 1 — Problem Articulation

Function:

• Explicit formulation of a problem
• Boundary definition
• Context declaration

Admissible:

• problem statements
• scope definitions
• constraints

STOP if:

• claims appear without problem assignment

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Layer 2 — Claim Formation

Function:

• Formulation of claims bound to a problem
• No validation, no ranking

Admissible:

• claims
• hypotheses
• propositions

STOP if:

• truth, correctness, or optimization is asserted

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Layer 3 — Structural Admissibility

Function:

• Formal checking of claims
• Layer discipline
• Transition control

Admissible:

• admissible
• inadmissible
• STOP
• Absence

STOP if:

• responsibility collapses into structure

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Layer 4 — Decision Attribution

Function:

• Explicit assignment of responsibility
• Human or institutional commitment

Admissible:

• decisions
• commitments
• mandates

STOP if:

• decisions are delegated to models or processes

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Layer 5 — Execution / Application

Function:

• Action in the world
• Irreversible effects

Admissible:

• actions
• implementations
• consequences

STOP if:

• execution claims epistemic authority

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Layer 6 — Audit / Reflection

Function:

• Ex post inspection
• Traceability
• Error visibility

Admissible:

• audits
• revisions
• withdrawals

STOP if:

• audit is used to retroactively justify decisions