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• is_a::[[Form Type]]
• has_status::[[Seed Stage]]
• in_domain::[[Deep Context Architecture]]
• in_precinct::[[Garden Precinct]]

Principle Form

Core question: “What must we always or never do?”

A decision constraint derived from values. Principles compress patterns and experience into actionable heuristics. Stable; refined through cases but rarely overturned.

Structural Contract

A principle form requires:

• The principle itself — Stated as a clear maxim or priority declaration. Often uses the “X Over Y” pattern to clarify what’s being prioritized.
• Rationale — Why this principle matters. What risk does violating it create?
• Manifestations — How the principle shows up at different system levels (session, architecture, knowledge) or in different contexts. Not a bullet list of rules — show how the same constraint applies across scales.
• Sources — Values, experiences, or patterns the principle was derived from.
• Relations — Connections to boundaries it informs, patterns it compresses, and models it constrains.

Optional: Diagnostic — A test statement for whether the principle is being upheld. “If you can’t tell X, you’ve violated this principle.”

Naming heuristic: maxim or priority declaration. “Human Authority Over Augmentation Systems” not “Authority Principle.”

Typical Predicates

• is_a::[\[\[Principle Form\]\]](Principle%20Form.html)
• has_status::[\[\[Seed Stage\]\]](Seed%20Stage.html) or [\[\[Evergreen Stage\]\]](Evergreen%20Stage.html)
• in_domain::[\[\[Deep Context Architecture\]\]](../domains/Deep%20Context%20Architecture.html)
• depends_on::[\[\[Value\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Value) or [\[\[Conviction\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Conviction) — what grounds the principle
• extends::[\[\[Related Principle\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Related%20Principle) — how principles build on each other
• relates_to::[\[\[Boundary Form\]\]](Boundary%20Form.html), [\[\[Pattern Form\]\]](Pattern%20Form.html), [\[\[Model Form\]\]](Model%20Form.html)

Exemplars

• [[Human Authority Over Augmentation Systems]] — multi-level manifestation (session, architecture, knowledge)
• [[Authority Flows from the Person]] — grounded in Self-Sovereign Identity domain with delegability test
• [[Content Over Container]] — priority declaration with clear “X Over Y” naming

Category

Orientation form — establishes what matters and what we believe.

Sources

Definition from [[Deep Context as an Architecture for Captured Reasoning]], lines 52-53.

Relations

• relates_to::[[Boundary Form]] — principles inform boundaries; boundaries enforce principles
• relates_to::[[Decision Form]] — principles provide standing constraints that decisions apply
• relates_to::[[Pattern Form]] — principles compress patterns into heuristics
• relates_to::[[Model Form]] — principles constrain what models can represent

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