Ethical technology standards
Use glossary definitions when drafting AI governance requirements, accountability checkpoints, and consent safeguards.
Ethotechnics glossary
Search the Ethotechnics glossary for ethical technology and AI governance terms. Find definitions, scope notes, and citations across moral system design, accountability, consent, safety, and stewardship.
Using the glossary
Stable anchors for Ethotechnic language.
Each term is a mechanism card with related mechanism specs and ready-to-copy citations. Use the permalinks to keep reports, diagnostics, and briefs aligned on exact definitions.
Summary
Glossary wayfinding at a glance
Use this index to align language quickly, then jump straight to the sections that match your research or review window.
Key takeaways
- Every term links to a permalink so citations stay stable.
- Territory maps cluster definitions for faster scanning.
- Related mechanisms connect definitions to implementation work.
Related sections
Start with these terms
New to the glossary? These anchors provide the shared vocabulary most teams cite first.
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Ethotechnics
The discipline itself and how moral behavior becomes a system capability.
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Moral behavior
How systems avoid harm and distribute responsibility in practice.
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Consent journey
The checkpoints that keep consent informed and reversible over time.
Pathways
Glossary pathways for ethical technology teams
Start with shared definitions, then follow the glossary into AI governance standards, research artifacts, and human-centered design mechanisms.
Human-centered design research
Pair field research and diagnostics with stable terminology for human-centered design and moral system reviews.
Mechanisms and controls library
Jump from glossary terms to implementation mechanisms like stoppability, safety valves, and contestability patterns.
Field notes and practice briefs
Trace how glossary anchors show up in real-world audits, incident reviews, and remediation playbooks.
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Showing 211 of 211 terms
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Explainers
High-intent glossary explainers
Short, reusable definitions with examples and next-step artifacts.
Stoppability
Learn how halt controls protect people from forced tunnels.
Time-to-Halt (TTH)
Define the latency budget for stopping automated actions.
Ethical Interrupts
Pause automation at risk thresholds with accountable checkpoints.
Consent Journey
Map consent across onboarding, renewal, and revocation.
Safety Valve
Build fallbacks that release pressure without harm.
Repair Log
Track remediation actions with receipts and owners.
Contestability
Ensure people can challenge and reverse automated decisions.
Design Authority
Assign accountable owners with governance power.
Burden Index
Quantify the time tax systems impose on people.
Permission Surface
Map every permission and access point over time.
Index links jump to canonical permalinks.
Open the territory map
Core concepts
Start here for shared definitions and the core Ethotechnics framing.
Jump to Core conceptsGovernance & power
Terms that explain escalation paths, stewardship, and decision authority.
Jump to Governance & powerBurden & load
Language for how effort and harm shift across people and systems.
Jump to Burden & loadFriction & flow
Where to slow, pause, or redirect experience to protect people.
Jump to Friction & flowCore concepts
Shared language that defines Ethotechnics.
8 entries
Failure modes
Characteristic patterns of harm Ethotechnics addresses.
14 entries
Capabilities
Abilities systems need to behave morally at scale.
10 entries
System states
Operational postures and fault modes that shape risk.
14 entries
Human limits
Human constraints and experience systems must respect.
9 entries
Burden & load
Who carries effort, cost, and harm when systems run or fail.
21 entries
Measures & indicators
Metrics that make moral performance legible.
15 entries
Governance & power
Who sets boundaries, who can intervene, and how.
39 entries
Friction & flow
Where to slow, pause, or smooth flows to protect people.
10 entries
Decision states & edges
Where decisions tip from reversible to permanent.
19 entries
Patterns & anti-patterns
System archetypes that demand special care.
6 entries
Future concepts
Active and emerging research threads in Ethotechnics.
39 entries
Foundational principles
Early axioms that will anchor the discipline.
7 entries
Section A
A. Core concepts
A. Core concepts entries (8)
These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Glossary term
Ethotechnics
Definition
The discipline of designing sociotechnical systems that reliably uphold moral obligations. It treats moral behavior as engineered capability expressed in policy, interfaces, and operations—so harm can be prevented, stopped, and repaired on a clock with a named owner.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Documentation maps moral obligations to concrete mechanisms (stoppability, contestability, repair ownership).
- Teams can show a shipped feature where moral performance was designed, measured, and iterated.
Genealogy
Draws from ethics, safety engineering, and systems design to align governance, product, and operations around observable moral performance.
Example corpus
- A hospital release board requires consent checks, stop controls, and named repair owners before deploying triage updates.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Healthcare readiness checklist · Guide
Glossary term
Moral Behavior (of Systems)
Definition
Observable system outcomes that prevent harm, distribute burden fairly, and keep people able to contest and recover. Moral behavior is evaluated via MPIs like time-to-halt, reversibility, and fair burden distribution—not by stated intent. A system does not “behave morally” if MPIs are tracked but do not trigger pause rules, remediation, or resourcing.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Operational tests
- MPIs are tracked and drive operational thresholds or pause rules.
- Post-incident reviews tie outcomes to system controls rather than intent statements.
Genealogy
Defines the observable outcomes Ethotechnics expects across governance, design, and operations.
Example corpus
- A payments platform slows risky recommendations, surfaces a human review queue, and documents reversals when fraud indicators spike.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Maintenance simulator · Tool
Glossary term
Ethical Load Path
Definition
The traceable chain of authority, decisions, and controls that carries moral responsibility through a system. A clear ethical load path names who can stop, reverse, or repair harm at each stage, linking design authority, oversight horizons, and the repair log so handoffs remain accountable.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Operational tests
- Each lifecycle stage has a named owner with authority to stop, reverse, or repair, plus backup coverage.
- Incident reviews show the escalation path was used without dead ends or orphaned decisions.
Genealogy
Adapts engineering load paths to accountability so responsibility stays traceable across handoffs.
Example corpus
- A transit authority publishes a named escalation map for halting automated dispatch, including after-hours owners.
References
- Governance playbook · Guide
- Accountability architectures · Guide
Glossary term
Ethotechnic Audit
Definition
A structured assessment of a system’s moral capabilities, including stoppability, reversibility, burden distribution, contestability, and accountability. Ethotechnic audits validate evidence, stress-test pathways, and define remediation steps with named owners.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Operational tests
- Audit evidence includes drills, logs, and user-facing pathways for contesting and repairing harm.
- Remediation plans are time-bound, assigned to owners, and re-audited after major changes.
Genealogy
Builds on safety and compliance audits while centering harm prevention, repair, and accountability.
Example corpus
- After a harmful rollout, a platform audit verifies stop controls, reversal paths, and repair ownership before relaunch.
References
- AI governance · Guide
Glossary term
Conviviality
Definition
The degree to which tools and institutions expand people’s agency, cooperation, and right of refusal instead of enclosing them. Convivial systems keep permission surfaces wide, make opting out safe, and let communities shape the service.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- People can refuse or change terms without losing core access or being penalized.
- Interfaces surface shared control settings instead of only provider defaults.
Genealogy
Extends human-centered design by insisting that agency and refusal remain durable at scale.
Example corpus
- A mutual aid platform lets neighbors pause notifications or change delivery preferences without losing access to support.
References
- Mechanisms catalog · Reference
Glossary term
Ethotechnic Maturity
Definition
A developmental scale describing how consistently a system embodies Ethotechnic capabilities across its lifecycle. Early maturity focuses on stopping acute harms; later stages add graceful degradation, contestability, and routine care retrospectives. Mature systems publish SLJs, maintain repair capacity, and review moral performance on a steady cadence.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Operational tests
- A maturity level is documented with evidence for each capability and reviewed after major releases.
- Maintenance and repair staffing, budgets, and tools are recurring, not ad hoc.
Genealogy
Adapts maturity modeling into a roadmap for moral performance and sustained care.
Example corpus
- A rail operator publishes service-level justice metrics, runs quarterly pause drills, and funds dedicated repair staffing.
References
- Maintenance guidance · Guide
- Maintenance playbooks · Resource
Glossary term
Legibility
Definition
How understandable a system’s actions, reasoning, and ownership are to the people affected by it. Legibility complements explainability for accountability and transparent design authority so people can find who decided, why, and how to respond. Legibility is discoverability of who/why/what-next; it does not guarantee the system can be changed.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Decision notices include a plain-language rationale, owner, and next step for contesting.
- Affected people can reach the policy basis and escalation path within a single click or call.
Genealogy
Moves transparency from disclosure to actionable understanding for the people impacted.
Example corpus
- Residents receive a plain-language notice that names the office, rule, and appeal path behind a zoning decision.
References
- Civic services · Essay
Glossary term
Sociotechnical Alignment
Definition
Alignment achieved not just in the model, but across tools, interfaces, incentives, workflows, and organizational structures. Sociotechnical alignment keeps the ethical load path intact under pressure.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Incentives and KPIs reinforce, rather than undermine, moral requirements.
- Incident reviews can trace breakdowns between policy intent and operational tooling.
Genealogy
Bridges organizational design and system behavior to keep moral intent durable.
Example corpus
- Policy, tooling, and incentives all enforce the same stoppability rules.
References
- Accountability architectures · Guide
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists) entries (14)
Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Glossary term
Moral Latency
Definition
The lag between harm occurring and the system detecting or responding to it. Automation can scale impact faster than oversight, so moral latency demands velocity friction and ethical interrupts that shrink response time.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Time-to-detect harm exceeds time-to-scale the impact.
- Alerts are not tied to pause, rollback, or escalation controls for moral risk.
Genealogy
Applies latency thinking to harm detection so response windows stay tight.
Example corpus
- A clinic triage chatbot keeps routing patients while harm reports queue for hours, delaying escalation.
References
- Healthcare safeguards · Guide
Glossary term
Accountability Diffusion
Definition
Responsibility spreads across teams, vendors, and incentives until no one can intervene. Accountability diffusion erodes design authority and leaves harm without a decisive owner. If no one can unilaterally stop or reverse the harm, accountability is diffused.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Escalation maps lack a single owner with authority to stop or repair.
- Incident reviews show repeated handoffs without a clear decision point.
Genealogy
Names the structural cause of unowned harm in complex institutions and supply chains.
Example corpus
- A support ticket bounces between a vendor and a hospital compliance team with no one empowered to pause the rollout.
References
- Governance playbook · Guide
- Burden Modeler · Tool
Glossary term
Extraction
Definition
When a system pulls value—data, attention, labor, or social capital—without returning care, consent, or repair. Extraction hides true costs through externalization and steep burden gradients, hollowing trust.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Operational tests
- Value metrics are tracked without corresponding burden or consent metrics.
- Unpaid or unacknowledged labor is required to keep the system functioning.
Genealogy
Frames value capture as a moral risk, not just an economic one.
Example corpus
- A data-labeling program offloads unpaid overnight verification to gig workers while the platform reports clean metrics.
References
- AI governance · Guide
- Reference archive · Essay
Glossary term
Extraction by Endurance
Definition
Systems that rely on workers or users absorbing fragility through burnout, emotional labor, or unpaid cognitive work—often mislabeled as “resilience.” Ethotechnic practice aims to invert this burden with fair burden distribution.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Operational tests
- Sustained service quality depends on overtime, heroics, or unpaid labor.
- Reported stability drops when people stop compensating for failures.
Genealogy
Calls out resilience narratives that mask structural fragility.
Glossary term
Drift (System Drift)
Definition
The tendency of systems to drift toward harm over time when incentives, data, or constraints shift. Without protective friction and moral performance indicators, drift quietly erodes safeguards and accountability.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Operational tests
- Performance metrics improve while harm or complaints trend upward.
- Controls are not reviewed when data, vendors, or policies change.
Genealogy
Warns that stability requires ongoing recalibration as systems evolve.
Glossary term
Externalization
Definition
Pushing risk, cost, or harm onto other teams, communities, or the future so internal metrics look clean. Externalization appears as pollution, shadow labor, or brittle dependencies outside audits.
Ethotechnics counters it with oversight horizons, MPIs, and transparent repair logs.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Operational tests
- Costs show up in downstream teams without corresponding resources or ownership.
- Audits exclude dependencies where harms are reported.
Genealogy
Names the gap between local optimization and systemic responsibility.
Glossary term
Brittleness
Definition
When a system fractures under real-world variance—unexpected inputs, refusals, or edge cases—forcing humans to absorb the impact. Brittleness signals missing soft edges, thin graceful degradation, and poor refusal tolerance.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Small input variance triggers hard failures instead of safe fallbacks.
- Human operators routinely patch failures without tooling support or documented playbooks.
Genealogy
Highlights the need for soft edges, graceful degradation, and refusal tolerance.
Example corpus
- A flight booking bot fails on hyphenated surnames, forcing agents to rebook travelers at the counter.
Glossary term
Optimization Myopia
Definition
Metric chasing that narrows attention to throughput or growth while ignoring MPIs. Myopic optimization erodes contestability, raises failure load, and often fuels extraction.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Operational tests
- Success metrics improve while contestability or reversibility degrades.
- Teams cannot articulate the moral tradeoffs behind optimizations or track MPIs.
Genealogy
Warns against single-metric tuning that crowds out moral performance.
Glossary term
Precision Laundering
Definition
Using detailed metrics or probabilistic scores to disguise inequity as objectivity. Precision laundering hides burden gradients and externalization behind statistical gloss, undermining explainability for accountability and meaningful contestation.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Operational tests
- High-confidence scores are presented without error bounds, provenance, or contestability paths.
- Appeals are dismissed because numeric outputs are treated as unquestionable despite uneven impacts.
Genealogy
Calls out false certainty in quantified systems and the misuse of precision as legitimacy.
Glossary term
Compliance Collapse
Definition
When rigid policy checklists replace judgment, causing teams to follow rules while harm worsens. Compliance collapse occurs when design authority is weak and contestability is low, leaving no path to pause or repair.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Operational tests
- Teams meet checklist requirements but still cannot stop or reverse harm.
- Escalations stall because procedures lack discretionary authority or override lanes.
Genealogy
Warns when compliance becomes a substitute for care and accountability.
Glossary term
Ethics Debt
Definition
The accumulation of unresolved ethical risk from shipping capabilities faster than governance, ownership, and repair mechanisms. Ethics debt grows when maintenance debt outpaces the repair log and risks remain unfunded.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Open ethical risks outnumber resourced remediation plans and owners.
- New launches add obligations without increasing repair capacity or budget.
Genealogy
Frames ethical risk as a backlog that compounds without investment.
Example corpus
- A recommender launches without consent review, adding unresolved risks to the repair log backlog.
References
- Maintenance guidance · Guide
Glossary term
Unowned Harm
Definition
Negative outcomes for which no clear individual or role is accountable, even though the system caused them. Unowned harm signals accountability diffusion and weak traceable ownership.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Affected people cannot find a named owner or appeal path within the product.
- Incident reviews conclude with no accountable role assigned or funded repair.
Genealogy
Names the moral gap created when accountability is absent.
Example corpus
- Denied applicants cannot identify a responsible team to contest a decision or request reversal.
References
- Accountability architectures · Guide
Glossary term
Capability Overhang
Definition
When a system’s power exceeds the maturity of its controls, making failures likely even without malicious intent. Capability overhang shows up as strong automation but weak stoppability or reversibility.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect capability overhang.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates capability overhang in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Capability Overhang to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A model can auto-approve loans, but rollback and auditing are manual and slow.
References
- Mechanisms catalog · Reference
Glossary term
Ethics Theater
Definition
Public displays of ethical concern without operational mechanisms that change system behavior. Ethics theater often masks compliance collapse and low contestability.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Ethics artifacts exist, but there are no operational stop, contest, or repair mechanisms behind them.
- Incident reviews surface policy language without evidence of real-world enforcement.
Genealogy
Highlights performative governance that substitutes for real accountability.
Example corpus
- The team publishes a code of ethics but lacks monitoring or a repair log.
References
- Governance playbook · Guide
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) entries (10)
Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Glossary term
Stoppability
Definition
A system's ability to halt harmful processes quickly, safely, and deliberately—without requiring heroism or escalation. Stoppability pairs ethical interrupts with measurable time-to-halt targets and clear operator authority.
Strong stoppability means stop paths are rehearsed, observable, and usable under stress—not hidden behind exceptional permissions.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Each high-risk workflow has documented stop controls, owners, and on-call coverage.
- Time-to-halt targets are met during drills or real incidents, with outcomes logged.
Genealogy
Adapts safety engineering stop controls to moral risk and accountability.
Related mechanisms
- MEC-05 Kill switch for runaway automation Governance, Friction
- MEC-03 Maintenance windowing Governance, Policy
See the full mechanisms catalog.
Example corpus
- A dispatch platform can pause automated routing citywide within minutes when false-priority signals spike, while preserving manual override for emergency coordinators.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Reversibility
Definition
Critical actions can be undone and people restored to a safe prior state. Damage is not permanent by default, and time-to-restore stays low.
Minimum evidence
- User-facing artifact.
- Internal log.
- Drill / rehearsal.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Operational tests
- Critical actions have tested rollback or remediation paths that restore data and access.
- Time-to-restore targets are met during drills and documented in the repair log.
Genealogy
Applies rollback discipline to moral consequences, not just technical failures.
Glossary term
Fair Burden Distribution
Definition
Failures should not fall hardest on the most vulnerable. Fair burden distribution treats time, cost, stress, and procedural labor as design variables and tracks them with measures like the user burden ratio.
When burden concentrates on people with the least capacity to absorb it, systems must rebalance defaults, staffing, and escalation pathways.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect fair burden distribution.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates fair burden distribution in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Fair Burden Distribution to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A benefits workflow waives redundant verification for applicants with prior validated records instead of repeatedly requesting the same documents.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Healthcare readiness checklist · Guide
Glossary term
Contestability
Definition
People affected by system decisions can challenge, change, or overturn them—and win. Contestability requires a visible permission surface and a healthy appeal passage rate.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Operational tests
- Appeals route to empowered reviewers with authority to overturn outcomes.
- Appeal passage rate and response time are tracked and used to improve decisions.
- Appeal outcomes include overturns, restorations, and policy changes—not just “review completed.”
- Floor: if appeal passage rate stays below 5% for 30 days, trigger a forced redesign review.
- Artifact requirement: Percentage of appeals that emit a decision artifact is tracked and published.
Genealogy
Draws from due process norms so people can challenge and reverse harm.
Glossary term
Explainability for Accountability
Definition
Explanations that are actionable, not decorative. They identify the decision owner, the data or policy basis, and how the outcome can be corrected, enabling contestability and audits. Explainability for accountability is legibility plus a working correction path.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Operational tests
- Decision notices include the reason, data source, owner, and path to contest.
- Explanations are tested with affected people for comprehension and actionability.
Genealogy
Moves explainability from transparency theater to accountability and repair.
Glossary term
Refusal-Tolerant Systems
Definition
The system remains usable when people opt out, are confused, make mistakes, or withdraw cooperation. Refusal tolerance prevents extraction by endurance by treating refusal as a valid input, not a failure state. Called “human” because it protects humans from being turned into the crumple zone when they refuse.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Operational tests
- Opt-out or decline flows keep core services available without punitive delays.
- Manual alternatives are staffed and tooled so refusals do not create hidden labor.
Genealogy
Centers refusal as a valid form of agency within system design.
Glossary term
Graceful Degradation
Definition
The system sheds features or load in controlled stages while keeping people safe. Graceful degradation prioritizes care floor guarantees, maintains stoppability, and keeps time-to-restore low.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect graceful degradation.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates graceful degradation in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Graceful Degradation to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Soft Edges
Definition
Boundary conditions designed to cushion people instead of penalizing them—graduated responses, warnings before lockouts, and reversible defaults. Soft edges reduce failure load and guard against brittleness.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Operational tests
- Users receive warnings and reversible options before thresholds or lockouts.
- Escalation steps are graduated with safe fallbacks instead of hard failures.
Genealogy
Applies human-centered safety design to reduce failure load and brittleness.
Glossary term
Governability
Definition
The degree to which a system can be steered, paused, audited, corrected, or shut down after deployment. High governability requires stoppability, reversibility, and durable contestability.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect governability.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates governability in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Governability to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- The city’s benefits system can be paused, rolled back, and audited within hours.
References
- Mechanisms catalog · Reference
Glossary term
Incident Literacy
Definition
The ability to recognize failures as incidents (not anomalies) and respond with containment, logging, escalation, and repair. It pairs ethical interrupts with a living repair log.
Scope
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do). Design requirements that keep people safe when systems scale.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect incident literacy.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates incident literacy in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Incident Literacy to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A moderation team opens an incident ticket for bias spikes, not just a bug report.
References
- Maintenance playbooks · Resource
Section D
D. System states & architectures
D. System states & architectures entries (14)
Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Glossary term
Fail-Safe Mode
Definition
The system defaults to the safest possible behavior when uncertain, prioritizing stoppability over throughput. In Ethotechnic practice, fail-safe mode is not a generic error page: it is a predesigned degraded state with bounded actions, clear status signals, and immediate escalation paths.
A fail-safe posture should preserve contestability and reduce irreversible harm while operators diagnose the incident.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect fail-safe mode.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates fail-safe mode in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Fail-Safe Mode to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A medication-order service blocks new high-risk orders during model drift and routes clinicians to manual review with visible restore timing.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Civic services · Essay
Glossary term
Fail-Open Mode
Definition
The system defaults to permissiveness under failure—sometimes necessary for continuity, sometimes dangerous. Fail-open modes should be bounded in time and paired with velocity friction, monitoring, and rapid escalation.
Ethotechnic fail-open design requires explicit thresholds for returning to fail-safe mode when risk rises.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect fail-open mode.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates fail-open mode in practice.
- Fail-open modes have explicit thresholds where they automatically switch to fail-safe or escalate to human review.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Fail-Open Mode to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A payments API temporarily accepts transactions during dependency outages but caps transfer size and triggers mandatory post-reconciliation review.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Fail-Silent Mode
Definition
A harmful state where systems fail without signaling it; the worst possible form of failure because it hides moral latency.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect fail-silent mode.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates fail-silent mode in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Fail-Silent Mode to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Crumple Zone / Human-as-Crumple-Zone
Definition
Originally: machines absorb force so people survive. Digitally: people absorb system failures so machines stay smooth. Ethotechnics reverses this direction of impact.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect crumple zone / human-as-crumple-zone.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates crumple zone / human-as-crumple-zone in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Crumple Zone / Human-as-Crumple-Zone to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Harm Visibility
Definition
How plainly a system exposes the human impact of its decisions in real time. High harm visibility pairs logs, narratives, and alerts so oversight horizons extend beyond dashboards and ethical interrupts trigger on lived effects, not just technical anomalies.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect harm visibility.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates harm visibility in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Harm Visibility to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Dead Zones / Moral Dead Zones
Definition
Places in a system where harm occurs but no one can see, trace, or intervene. Closing dead zones is a goal of oversight horizons.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect dead zones / moral dead zones.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates dead zones / moral dead zones in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Dead Zones / Moral Dead Zones to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Escalation Horizon
Definition
The predefined point where automated control must yield to human judgment because risk, ambiguity, or moral latency is rising. Escalation horizons activate ethical interrupts and route cases to accountable stewards before crossing an irreversible boundary.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect escalation horizon.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates escalation horizon in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Escalation Horizon to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Interaction Surface
Definition
The moments, interfaces, and channels where people experience system decisions and can intervene. Mapping the interaction surface reveals where to place dignity friction, widen the permission surface, and detect dead-user zones.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect interaction surface.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates interaction surface in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Interaction Surface to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Maintenance Window
Definition
A scheduled calm state where teams intentionally slow or stop throughput so inspections, upgrades, and rehearsals can happen without crisis pressure. Maintenance windows make stoppability routine instead of reactive.
Each window is negotiated with the people impacted, includes published service guarantees, and documents which safeguards were tested so unfinished work rolls into the shared repair log.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect maintenance window.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates maintenance window in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Maintenance Window to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Care Retrospective
Definition
A facilitated reflection held while the system is still in a warning band to examine how maintenance load, emotional labor, and unresolved incidents are accumulating. Care retrospectives combine telemetry with frontline testimony.
They redistribute responsibilities before burnout or harm escalates, triggering new maintenance windows or policy fixes when the team cannot keep absorbing risk.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect care retrospective.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates care retrospective in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Care Retrospective to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Repair Log
Definition
A living record of every mitigation, decision, and resource commitment made after a fault. Repair logs make accountability legible by linking people harmed, who intervened, and what evidence was used. Repair logs include whether affected people were restored, how long it took, and what remains unrepaired.
They inform future care retrospectives, power audits, and service-level reports so follow-up work is traceable and burden does not drift back to the same communities.
Minimum evidence
- User-facing artifact.
- Internal log.
- Drill / rehearsal.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect repair log.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates repair log in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Repair Log to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Restoration Completeness
Definition
“Restored” means the person is actually back to the prior state across downstream systems, not just locally unblocked. Restoration completeness ensures time-to-restore includes reconciliation with dependencies.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Reconciliation across dependencies confirms restoration beyond the local system.
- Affected people confirm their state is restored and downstream impacts are cleared.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Restoration Completeness to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Downstream Harm Trace
Definition
A record of where a harmful decision propagated across vendors, data brokers, internal teams, and agencies. Downstream harm traces extend the repair log so remedies follow the harm.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Every critical action produces a propagation map of downstream recipients.
- Trace data is stored with the repair log and accessible during remediation.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Downstream Harm Trace to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Shadow Queue
Definition
A queue users cannot see—internal backlogs, vendor queues, or “pending review” pools—that still determines outcomes. Shadow queues erode time transparency and contestability.
Scope
D. System states & architectures. Operational postures that determine how harm is absorbed—or amplified.
Operational tests
- Every queue has public existence, time transparency, and bounded duration.
- Users can see the queues influencing their case and their place within them.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Shadow Queue to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Section E
E. Human limits & experience
E. Human limits & experience entries (9)
Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Glossary term
Finitude
Definition
The bodily, cognitive, emotional, and temporal limits all humans share. Ethotechnics treats finitude as a design input, not an inconvenience or a staffing problem to be hidden.
Systems that ignore finitude convert predictable limits into preventable harm, usually through alert overload, impossible response clocks, or unpaid maintenance expectations.
Scope
E. Human limits & experience. Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect finitude.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates finitude in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Finitude to extend the e. human limits & experience vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- An incident-response rotation caps overnight escalations and enforces recovery windows so operators can safely sustain care during prolonged outages.
References
- Healthcare readiness checklist · Guide
- Maintenance simulator · Tool
Glossary term
Cognitive Saturation Point
Definition
The load level at which human decision quality collapses—too many alerts, too little time, or excessive context switching. Ethotechnic design lowers saturation by adding velocity friction, simplifying interaction surfaces, and staffing to real maintenance metabolism.
Scope
E. Human limits & experience. Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect cognitive saturation point.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates cognitive saturation point in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Cognitive Saturation Point to extend the e. human limits & experience vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Compassion Bandwidth
Definition
The sustainable amount of emotional labor a system asks of people—care teams, moderators, frontline staff, or users. When compassion bandwidth is exceeded, dread work grows and extraction by endurance sets in.
Scope
E. Human limits & experience. Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect compassion bandwidth.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates compassion bandwidth in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Compassion Bandwidth to extend the e. human limits & experience vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Administrative Shame
Definition
The feeling of being personally at fault for harms produced by system design. Often a signal that moral overhead is too high.
Scope
E. Human limits & experience. Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect administrative shame.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates administrative shame in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Administrative Shame to extend the e. human limits & experience vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Virtue as Access Control
Definition
Composure, clarity, gratitude, “professionalism,” or patience become requirements for baseline safety or remedy.
Virtue as access control turns emotional labor into a gate and magnifies administrative shame. Violates affect-invariance.
Scope
E. Human limits & experience. Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect virtue as access control.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates virtue as access control in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Virtue as Access Control to extend the e. human limits & experience vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Affect-Invariance
Definition
Baseline safety and remedy should not change based on distress, fatigue, disability, fear, or anger. Primary threat model: virtue as access control.
Affect-invariance reinforces care floor guarantees and protects contestability.
Scope
E. Human limits & experience. Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect affect-invariance.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates affect-invariance in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Affect-Invariance to extend the e. human limits & experience vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Dread Work
Definition
Tasks people avoid because the system punishes mistakes or withholds relief. Dread work signals missing soft edges, low contestability, and declining compassion bandwidth.
Scope
E. Human limits & experience. Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect dread work.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates dread work in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Dread Work to extend the e. human limits & experience vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Refusal Budget
Definition
The number of times a person can decline, pause, or question a request without retaliation. Healthy refusal budgets, backed by refusal tolerance and rights of exit, prevent coercion and surface heat maps of refusal.
Scope
E. Human limits & experience. Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect refusal budget.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates refusal budget in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Refusal Budget to extend the e. human limits & experience vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Behavioral Shaping
Definition
The way systems nudge, constrain, or normalize user behavior through defaults and design choices. Behavioral shaping is amplified by velocity friction and narrow permission surfaces.
Scope
E. Human limits & experience. Design that honors the limits of human time, cognition, and care.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect behavioral shaping.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates behavioral shaping in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Behavioral Shaping to extend the e. human limits & experience vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- Default opt-ins normalize data sharing even when users are uncertain.
References
- AI governance · Resource
Section F
F. Burden & load
F. Burden & load entries (21)
How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Glossary term
Burden Distribution
Definition
How a system allocates the cost of operation or failure—time, attention, stress, and emotional labor—across users, staff, and institutions. Burden distribution determines who keeps the service running when conditions degrade.
Ethotechnic teams measure these transfers, then redesign flows so hidden labor is reduced rather than normalized.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect burden distribution.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates burden distribution in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Burden Distribution to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A support process shifts repetitive evidence collection from users to internal case assembly, reducing repeat submissions.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Burden Gradient
Definition
The slope of effort and risk across roles or communities. A steep burden gradient means those with the least power carry the heaviest operational load while decision-makers feel little friction.
Mapping the gradient exposes where to redistribute work through fair burden distribution and reduce moral overhead.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect burden gradient.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates burden gradient in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Burden Gradient to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Failure Load
Definition
The amount of harm generated when the system fails. Ethotechnics seeks low-failure-load architectures supported by graceful degradation.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect failure load.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates failure load in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Failure Load to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Burden Transfer Event
Definition
Moments when system failure pushes labor, risk, or emotional work onto humans, often triggering moral overhead. Burden transfer events are observable handoffs: the system stops carrying what it promised to carry.
Common signals include repeated documentation requests, forced channel switching, and manual triage queues that appear without new staffing.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect burden transfer event.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates burden transfer event in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Burden Transfer Event to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- After an identity-verification outage, users are told to restart the process across three channels and re-upload evidence already submitted.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Maintenance Metabolism
Definition
The baseline flow of upkeep—patching, cleaning, rehearsing, and caring—that keeps a service alive when nothing is on fire. Healthy maintenance metabolism is budgeted, scheduled, and shared rather than squeezed between crises.
Falling below it signals rising maintenance debt and invites maintenance windows before fragility compounds.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect maintenance metabolism.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates maintenance metabolism in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Maintenance Metabolism to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Maintenance Debt
Definition
Accumulated obligations from skipping basic upkeep. The interest is paid in slower recovery, brittle systems, and people burning out to keep things running.
Paying it down requires restoring the maintenance metabolism, scheduling maintenance windows, and tracking work in the repair log.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect maintenance debt.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates maintenance debt in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Maintenance Debt to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Moral Overhead
Definition
Extra work users or operators must do to behave ethically within a poorly designed system. Moral overhead appears when the default workflow produces harm unless people add compensating care, vigilance, or documentation.
Ethotechnic design aims to move this overhead back into the system through clearer defaults, better safeguards, and funded maintenance capacity.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect moral overhead.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates moral overhead in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Moral Overhead to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- Moderators manually reverse ranking decisions every day because harmful content controls are too weak at launch.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Maintenance simulator · Tool
Glossary term
Temporal Exaction
Definition
Uncompensated seizure of life-hours (time, attention, opportunity cost) as the price of accessing a right or correction.
Temporal exaction is a form of extraction that inflates the user burden ratio.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect temporal exaction.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates temporal exaction in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Temporal Exaction to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Asymmetric Sustaining
Definition
When one group continually absorbs the toil of keeping a system alive so another group can move fast or claim success. It often hides behind gratitude for “resilience” while masking extraction.
Ethotechnic practice flattens this by lowering the burden gradient and designing for stoppability so resilience is institutional, not personal.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect asymmetric sustaining.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates asymmetric sustaining in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Asymmetric Sustaining to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Fragility Subsidy
Definition
The unpaid labor, vigilance, or emotional buffering people contribute to keep brittle systems functioning. Fragility subsidies hide true costs, inflate success metrics, and deepen asymmetric sustaining.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect fragility subsidy.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates fragility subsidy in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Fragility Subsidy to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Degradation/Restoration Asymmetry
Definition
It is cheap or fast to harm or change someone’s state, but slow and costly to reverse.
Degradation/restoration asymmetry inflates time-to-restore and compounds moral debt.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect degradation/restoration asymmetry.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates degradation/restoration asymmetry in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Degradation/Restoration Asymmetry to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Endurance-as-Allocation
Definition
Who gets the right outcome is determined by who can survive the correction path, not who is substantively right.
Endurance-as-allocation weaponizes endurance asymmetry and steepens the burden gradient.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect endurance-as-allocation.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates endurance-as-allocation in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Endurance-as-Allocation to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Stamina Pricing
Definition
Rights exist in theory, but the option to claim them is priced in paperwork, waiting, and persistence.
Stamina pricing shows up in punitive friction and drives attrition-as-resolution.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect stamina pricing.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates stamina pricing in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Stamina Pricing to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Burden Index
Definition
A composite measure of how much effort, time, and emotional labor people expend to use or recover from a system.
Inputs include the user burden ratio, human substitution index, and failure load; rising scores signal extraction or asymmetric sustaining.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect burden index.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates burden index in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Burden Index to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Harm Internalization
Definition
Designing systems so creators and operators bear the costs of failures instead of externalizing them to users or society. Harm internalization improves fair burden distribution and prevents externalization.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect harm internalization.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates harm internalization in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Harm Internalization to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A vendor funds remediation and user support when their model causes harm.
References
- Accountability architectures · Guide
Glossary term
Maintenance Ethics
Definition
The idea that ethical responsibility continues after deployment through monitoring, updates, incident response, and repair. Maintenance ethics turns maintenance metabolism and the repair log into ongoing commitments.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect maintenance ethics.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates maintenance ethics in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Maintenance Ethics to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- Teams publish repair logs and schedule maintenance windows after each major release.
References
- Maintenance guidance · Guide
Glossary term
Channel Switching Penalty
Definition
The hidden harm of being bounced between phone, email, chat, and portal channels, often resetting clocks or losing context. Channel switching penalties increase procedural burden and delay repair.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Switching channels does not reset case age or evidence sets.
- Case history and documentation follow the claimant across every channel.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Channel Switching Penalty to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Evidence Burden Ceiling
Definition
A hard cap on documentation demands placed on claimants for a given harm class. Evidence burden ceilings enforce fair burden distribution during appeals.
Feeds into: User Burden Ratio, Burden Index.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Maximum documentation counts, minutes, or steps are enforced in UI and policy.
- Requests beyond the ceiling require justification and escalation approval.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Evidence Burden Ceiling to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Burden Ceiling
Definition
A maximum allowable procedural burden a system may impose on a user to obtain baseline safety, correction, or relief—defined per harm class and enforced through UI, staffing, and policy. Burden ceilings bind the user burden ratio and activate burden inversion when crossed.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- A ceiling exists per workflow (for example, appeal submission must take ≤10 minutes, ≤5 steps, ≤2 documents).
- The <a href="#user-burden-ratio">User Burden Ratio</a> is tracked and must remain below the ceiling.
- When exceeded, the system shifts to burden inversion (system does the work first) and/or offers staffed alternatives.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Burden Ceiling to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Evidence Recycling
Definition
The system reuses previously verified information so people do not have to re-prove identity or harm repeatedly. Evidence recycling applies continuity of state to documentation, not just case status.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Operational tests
- Previously verified identity or harm evidence auto-attaches to new cases.
- Continuity of state is applied to evidence across workflows and channels.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Evidence Recycling to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Verification Harm
Definition
When verification itself causes harm through delays, denials, exclusion, or stress spirals. Verification harm increases the burden index and can erode contestability when people cannot realistically comply.
Reducing verification harm means eliminating redundant proofs, honoring prior evidence, and shortening time-to-resolution for urgent needs.
Scope
F. Burden & load. How systems allocate the cost of operation or failure.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Utility expiry attributable to verification steps is measured and tracked.
- Verification workflows are revised when measured harm exceeds agreed thresholds.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Verification Harm to extend the f. burden & load vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A family loses temporary housing eligibility because identity checks require documents already submitted in a previous approved case.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- AI governance · Resource
Section G
G. Measures & indicators
G. Measures & indicators entries (15)
Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Glossary term
Moral Performance Indicators (MPIs)
Definition
Key metrics that show a system’s ethical functioning: time-to-halt (TTH), reversibility rate, appeal success rate, burden ratios, and more. MPIs complement traditional KPIs by tracking how safely and fairly a system operates, not just how fast it grows.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect moral performance indicators (mpis).
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates moral performance indicators (mpis) in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Moral Performance Indicators (MPIs) to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Service-Level Indicators of Justice (SLJs)
Definition
Operational metrics tied directly to fairness, safety, and dignity. Service-Level Indicators of Justice (SLJs) sit alongside uptime and latency so moral performance is managed as a production requirement.
Useful SLJs include reversal timeliness, appeal passage rate, and burden exposure by cohort—each with escalation thresholds and owners.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect service-level indicators of justice (sljs).
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates service-level indicators of justice (sljs) in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Service-Level Indicators of Justice (SLJs) to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A municipality tracks median time-to-restore benefits after wrongful denial and triggers mandatory review when thresholds are exceeded.
References
- Diagnostics · Resource
- AI governance · Resource
Glossary term
Institutional Metabolism Mapping
Definition
A diagnostic mapping of where energy, care, time, and money circulate inside an institution. It visualizes maintenance metabolism, burden gradients, and points of extraction.
Teams use the map to set SLJs, redesign roles, and decide where to invest new maintenance windows.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect institutional metabolism mapping.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates institutional metabolism mapping in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Institutional Metabolism Mapping to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Time-to-Halt (TTH)
Definition
Seconds between a harmful process beginning and the system stopping it—an essential complement to stoppability.
Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly p95; monthly p99. Target / floor / ceiling: target ≤ 30s (automated) / ≤ 5 min (human), floor 15 min, ceiling 60 min. Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: trigger ethical circuit breakers, safe pause, or rollback lane activation with escalation. Public surface: receipt + time transparency showing halt status and decision artifact.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect time-to-halt (tth).
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates time-to-halt (tth) in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Time-to-Halt (TTH) to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Related mechanisms
See the full mechanisms catalog.
Glossary term
Time-to-Restore (TTR)
Definition
How long it takes to reverse harm and return a person to their prior state. Low TTR is a signal of effective reversibility.
Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly p95; monthly median. Target / floor / ceiling: target ≤ 24h, floor ≤ 72h, ceiling 7d. Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: activate rollback lanes, switch to staffed remediation, or trigger safe pause with escalation. Public surface: receipt + time transparency with restoration ETA and decision artifact.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect time-to-restore (ttr).
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates time-to-restore (ttr) in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Time-to-Restore (TTR) to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Appeal Passage Rate
Definition
The percentage of appeals resolved in favor of the user, a leading indicator of true contestability.
Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly rolling median; monthly review. Target / floor / ceiling: target 10–20% by harm class, floor 5%, ceiling 30% (investigate systemic error). Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: trigger decision-rule audits, staffing surges, or pause automation in the affected class. Public surface: published appeal outcomes with receipt, time transparency, and decision artifacts.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect appeal passage rate.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates appeal passage rate in practice.
Common counterfeits
- Lots of “reviews,” no reversals.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Appeal Passage Rate to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Irreversibility Index
Definition
The share of system actions that cannot be undone. Aim to keep this as low as possible through reversibility and graceful degradation.
Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly p95; monthly median. Target / floor / ceiling: target ≤ 1%, floor ≤ 2%, ceiling 5%. Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: invoke ethical circuit breakers, activate rollback lanes, or trigger safe pause. Public surface: receipts and time transparency on irreversible boundaries.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect irreversibility index.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates irreversibility index in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Irreversibility Index to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Irreversibility Budget
Definition
A predefined cap on the share of actions allowed to be effectively irreversible in a given system or workflow class. Budgets force designers to minimize irreversible boundaries and build rollback lanes for everything else.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- A documented budget exists per critical-action class (for example, account closures or benefit terminations).
- The <a href="#irreversibility-index">Irreversibility Index</a> is measured continuously and compared to the budget.
- Budget breaches trigger an <a href="#ethical-circuit-breakers">ethical circuit breaker</a> (pause, rollback, or escalation), not a retrospective.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Irreversibility Budget to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
User Burden Ratio
Definition
How much work a user must perform to correct or navigate system errors. This metric feeds directly into fair burden distribution.
Interpretation: UBR must be evaluated against the Evidence Burden Ceiling (documentation) plus time/steps caps (process).
Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly median; monthly p95. Target / floor / ceiling: target ≤ 10 minutes, ≤ 5 steps, ≤ 2 documents; floor ≤ 15 minutes, ≤ 8 steps; ceiling 20 minutes / 10 steps. Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: switch to burden inversion, offer staffed alternatives, or trigger safe pause. Public surface: receipt + time transparency + decision artifact showing burden caps.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect user burden ratio.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates user burden ratio in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses User Burden Ratio to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Human Substitution Index
Definition
A measure of how often humans must step in to compensate for system shortcomings—manual reviews, ad-hoc patches, or empathy work. A rising index exposes heroism-dependent systems and motivates investment in graceful degradation.
Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly median; monthly review. Target / floor / ceiling: target ≤ 5% of cases, floor 10%, ceiling 20%. Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: expand graceful degradation, add staffing, or pause automation in the affected class. Public surface: receipt + time transparency that flags human review and decision artifact.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect human substitution index.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates human substitution index in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Human Substitution Index to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Moral Debt
Definition
The accumulated harm a system has caused but not repaired. Moral debt accrues interest as moral latency grows and people lose trust; it is paid down through pathways to restitution, transparent repair logs, and lowered time-to-restore.
Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: monthly backlog review; quarterly audit. Target / floor / ceiling: target 0 unresolved cases, floor ≤ 30 days outstanding, ceiling 90 days. Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: trigger restitution sprints, funding escalation, or safe pause of new harm classes. Public surface: repair log updates plus receipts and time transparency on restoration timelines.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect moral debt.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates moral debt in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Moral Debt to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Signal Credibility
Definition
The trustworthiness of alerts, metrics, and reports used to govern a system.
High signal credibility pairs transparent sampling, explainability for accountability, and human testimony so warnings trigger action instead of alert fatigue or dismissal.
Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly precision/recall review; monthly audit. Target / floor / ceiling: target ≥ 0.85 precision, floor ≥ 0.70, ceiling false-positive rate ≥ 0.40. Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: pause dependent automation, recalibrate models, or require human confirmation. Public surface: published signal health via receipt, time transparency, and decision artifacts.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect signal credibility.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates signal credibility in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Signal Credibility to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Identity Fragility Index
Definition
A measure of how likely identity or eligibility checks are to fail under ordinary life variance such as name changes, relocation, disability, or housing instability. High fragility indicates brittle verification design rather than user fault.
Reducing fragility requires multi-path verification and tolerance for common real-world data variation.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Failure rates for common life events are measured and tracked.
- False-negative rates are reported by group and monitored over time.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Identity Fragility Index to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A service tracks false negatives after surname changes and adjusts matching logic plus manual override policy to prevent exclusion.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Consent Revocation Latency
Definition
The time from a person saying “I revoke consent” to system behavior actually changing everywhere it should—across products, processors, and data stores. Low revocation latency keeps consent journeys credible.
Latency targets should be contractual, monitored, and tied to escalation when dependent systems lag.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Operational tests
- Time-to-effective-revocation is measured across processors and data stores.
- Revocation SLAs trigger alerts when latency exceeds agreed bounds.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Consent Revocation Latency to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A user revokes ad personalization and sees targeting stop across first-party and vendor systems within a documented SLA window.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Repair Debt Interest Rate
Definition
The rate at which unrepaired harm compounds through financial penalties, health risk, displacement risk, or reputational spread. This metric converts moral debt into explicit time-bound obligations.
Higher interest rates prioritize faster interventions and stronger restitution commitments.
Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Compounding curves are quantified for each harm class with bounded-duration rules.
- Remediation plans use the interest rate to prioritize funding and repair timelines.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Repair Debt Interest Rate to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A case model estimates how each week of unresolved wrongful denial increases downstream housing instability and required compensation.
References
- Diagnostics · Resource
- Civic services · Essay
Section H
H. Governance & power
H. Governance & power entries (39)
Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Glossary term
Design Authority
Definition
The accountable power to set moral constraints, choose safeguards, and fund enforcement. Clear design authority aligns incentives, protects contestability, and prevents accountability diffusion.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect design authority.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates design authority in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Design Authority to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Oversight Horizon
Definition
The distance regulators, auditors, or affected communities can see into a system’s decisions and their effects. Extending the horizon—through harm visibility, traceable models, and shared repair logs—shrinks dead zones.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect oversight horizon.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates oversight horizon in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Oversight Horizon to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Permission Surface
Definition
The real set of actions people can take without discretionary institutional approval. A wider permission surface increases autonomy and makes contestability practical, not merely formal.
Ethotechnic governance tracks this surface by role and pathway to detect when policy silently narrows user agency.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect permission surface.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates permission surface in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Permission Surface to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A tenant can pause automated collections, download their case record, and request human review without manager pre-approval.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- AI governance · Resource
Glossary term
Bounded Autonomy
Definition
Autonomy granted only within explicit limits; approaching or crossing those limits must trigger escalation to design authority or a documented oversight horizon.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect bounded autonomy.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates bounded autonomy in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Bounded Autonomy to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A claims assistant can approve payouts up to $500, but anything higher is routed to a supervisor.
References
- Governance playbook · Guide
Glossary term
Earned Autonomy
Definition
Autonomy that expands only after demonstrated reliability, monitoring, and accountability. Permission surfaces widen as traceable ownership and repair logs prove the system can handle more scope.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect earned autonomy.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates earned autonomy in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Earned Autonomy to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- After six months of clean audits, the escalation bot gains approval rights for low-risk cases.
References
- Accountability architectures · Guide
Glossary term
Scope Discipline
Definition
The practice of not exceeding one’s mandate, even when doing so might appear helpful or efficient. Scope discipline enforces the permission surface and respects bounded autonomy.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect scope discipline.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates scope discipline in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Scope Discipline to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A support bot refuses to access customer data outside its assigned ticket.
References
- Governance playbook · Guide
Glossary term
Right of Exit
Definition
The ability to leave a system without ruinous cost, retaliation, or silent lock-in. Right of exit is foundational to ethical participation because consent is not meaningful when departure is punitive.
Operationally, exit requires data portability, clear closure paths, and protections against downstream penalties.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect right of exit.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates right of exit in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Right of Exit to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- Workers can opt out of an automated scheduling tool and keep equivalent access to shifts while a manual process remains available.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Design process · Guide
Glossary term
Externalized Harm Channels
Definition
The pathways through which institutions push risk, cleanup, or delay onto others: contractors, users, bystanders, or future teams. Mapping these channels exposes hidden transfer mechanisms behind nominally efficient systems.
Ethotechnic teams use this mapping to redesign accountability and rebalance burden toward the system owner.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect externalized harm channels.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates externalized harm channels in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Externalized Harm Channels to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A platform offloads fraud remediation to merchants without funding support capacity, shifting investigation labor downstream.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Stewardship Window
Definition
A negotiated period where teams pause growth work to focus on care, maintenance, and accountability.
Stewardship windows bundle maintenance windows, publish SLJs for the pause, and commit to closing items in the repair log before resuming throughput.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect stewardship window.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates stewardship window in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Stewardship Window to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Stewardship
Definition
An explicit, ongoing role responsible for system behavior over time, with authority to pause, fix, or retire it. Stewardship links design authority, stoppability, and stewardship windows.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect stewardship.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates stewardship in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Stewardship to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A named steward can pause a rollout and own the repair log.
References
- Maintenance playbooks · Resource
Glossary term
Governance by Suspension
Definition
Control exercised by keeping matters unresolved long enough that time itself produces the outcome.
Governance by suspension relies on non-decisions and exploits endurance asymmetry.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect governance by suspension.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates governance by suspension in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Governance by Suspension to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Endurance Asymmetry
Definition
Institutions can persist indefinitely; humans cannot. This makes delay an allocation mechanism.
Endurance asymmetry underwrites continuity privilege and punitive friction.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect endurance asymmetry.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates endurance asymmetry in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Endurance Asymmetry to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Continuity Privilege
Definition
Unequal access to enforceability produced by unequal capacity to maintain standing over time (attention, health, documentation, slack).
Continuity privilege steepens the burden gradient for those without reserves.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect continuity privilege.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates continuity privilege in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Continuity Privilege to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Proxy Privilege
Definition
Unequal enforceability produced by unequal ability to delegate persistence (agents, intermediaries, automation).
Proxy privilege lets some parties bypass the futility threshold that others face alone.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect proxy privilege.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates proxy privilege in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Proxy Privilege to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Latency-as-Action
Definition
The principle that delay produced predictably by system rules (queues, resets, blocked escalation, absent deadlines) is attributable power, not mere inaction.
Latency-as-action frames delay as governance and grounds decision artifacts.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect latency-as-action.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates latency-as-action in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Latency-as-Action to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Bounded Duration
Definition
A fixed maximum time-to-resolution; breach triggers an enforceable disposition.
Bounded duration pairs with a stable clock and time transparency.
Minimum evidence
- User-facing artifact.
- Internal log.
- Drill / rehearsal.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect bounded duration.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates bounded duration in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Bounded Duration to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Continuity of State
Definition
A persistent cumulative case record that prevents forced repetition of validated inputs across channels, time, and teams. Continuity of state lowers administrative burden and reduces avoidable denial loops.
It protects contestability by ensuring prior evidence remains legible during escalation or transfer.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect continuity of state.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates continuity of state in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Continuity of State to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A claimant can move from chat to phone support without re-uploading documents because prior verification artifacts follow the case.
References
- Diagnostics · Resource
- Design process · Guide
Glossary term
Safe Pause / Status Quo During Pendency
Definition
No adverse consequences while review is pending (except narrow, reviewable emergency exception).
Safe pause preserves the utility window and keeps people whole during appeal.
Minimum evidence
- User-facing artifact.
- Internal log.
- Drill / rehearsal.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect safe pause / status quo during pendency.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates safe pause / status quo during pendency in practice.
Common counterfeits
- “We won’t punish you” while consequences quietly accrue.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Safe Pause / Status Quo During Pendency to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Traceable Ownership
Definition
A named responsible party with authority to override automation when bounds are breached.
Traceable ownership clarifies design authority and accelerates time-to-restore.
Minimum evidence
- User-facing artifact.
- Internal log.
- Drill / rehearsal.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect traceable ownership.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates traceable ownership in practice.
Common counterfeits
- Team inbox or triage queue with no override authority.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Traceable Ownership to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Time Transparency
Definition
Legible process state: current step, blocking condition, time remaining, next decision point, escalation triggers; no fake progress.
Time transparency supports contestability and a stable clock.
Minimum evidence
- User-facing artifact.
- Internal log.
- Drill / rehearsal.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect time transparency.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates time transparency in practice.
Common counterfeits
- “Status updates” with no time remaining or escalation triggers.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Time Transparency to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Obligation Continuity
Definition
Whether responsibility stays attached across time, handoffs, and narrative resets instead of evaporating.
Obligation continuity depends on traceable ownership, continuity of state, and a durable repair log.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect obligation continuity.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates obligation continuity in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Obligation Continuity to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Delay as Power
Definition
The ability to remain wrong without consequence by stretching time (“pending,” “in review”).
Delay as power operationalizes latency-as-action and shows up in governance by suspension.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect delay as power.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates delay as power in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Delay as Power to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Performance-Gated Remedy
Definition
The correction path works only if someone performs well under stress; the system treats composure as eligibility.
Performance-gated remedy undermines contestability and violates care floor guarantees.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect performance-gated remedy.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates performance-gated remedy in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Performance-Gated Remedy to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Bindingness After Contact
Definition
After harm is reported or help is requested, who becomes bound—institution or claimant—and what obligations lock in.
Bindingness after contact requires traceable ownership and a time-bounded repair log.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect bindingness after contact.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates bindingness after contact in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Bindingness After Contact to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Recognition as Solvent
Definition
Being “heard” is treated as if it discharges obligation, pressuring the claimant to stop escalating without repair.
Recognition as solvent swaps procedural empathy for material pathways to restitution.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect recognition as solvent.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates recognition as solvent in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Recognition as Solvent to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Unowned Obligation
Definition
Responsibility exists but no owner or time-bound state transition is attached; people are bounced between channels.
Unowned obligation signals missing traceable ownership and weak bounded duration.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect unowned obligation.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates unowned obligation in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Unowned Obligation to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Closure-Code Regime
Definition
The set of person-level reason codes that convert structural scarcity into individual failure (“withdrew,” “no response,” “noncompliant”).
Closure-code regimes mask governance by suspension and normalize punitive friction.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect closure-code regime.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates closure-code regime in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Closure-Code Regime to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Attrition-as-Resolution
Definition
An anti-pattern where drop-off is counted as success and metrics improve when people give up. Attrition-as-resolution hides unmet obligations behind completion dashboards.
It often co-occurs with endurance asymmetry and extraction by endurance, shifting repair cost onto those with the least capacity.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect attrition-as-resolution.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates attrition-as-resolution in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Attrition-as-Resolution to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A benefits workflow reports higher “closure” rates after adding extra verification loops that cause applicants to abandon appeals.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- AI governance · Resource
Glossary term
Legitimacy Laundering
Definition
Moral language (“we care,” “be reasonable”) substitutes for binding obligation and repair.
Legitimacy laundering offers recognition without bindingness after contact or a repair log.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect legitimacy laundering.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates legitimacy laundering in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Legitimacy Laundering to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Legitimacy Engineering
Definition
Legitimacy defined by stoppability, reversibility, contestability, ownership, and time-bounded repair capacity.
Legitimacy engineering centers stoppability, reversibility, and contestability as measurable requirements.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect legitimacy engineering.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates legitimacy engineering in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Legitimacy Engineering to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Exit Coercion
Definition
“Consent” and silence extracted under duress during departures, often via NDAs, retaliation risk, or narrative erasure.
Exit coercion violates the right of exit and collapses refusal budgets.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect exit coercion.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates exit coercion in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Exit Coercion to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Retaliation Surface
Definition
Where the system can punish people for contesting, pausing, refusing, or exiting—through throttling, stricter scrutiny, “account review,” or service withdrawal. Mapping the retaliation surface protects contestability and the right of exit.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Teams can name every lever that can worsen a claimant’s state after an appeal is filed, including throttling, scrutiny, account review, or service withdrawal.
- Safeguards document how retaliation levers are disabled or monitored during appeals.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Retaliation Surface to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Non-Retaliation Guarantee
Definition
A binding commitment that contesting, pausing, refusing, or exiting will not trigger adverse treatment. A non-retaliation guarantee makes contestability and the right of exit safe to exercise.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Adverse-action rates are tracked for users who appeal versus those who do not.
- Policies and interfaces explicitly state that contesting, pausing, refusing, or exiting will not trigger adverse treatment.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Non-Retaliation Guarantee to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Appeal Integrity
Definition
Appeals are judged on merits with transparent criteria, named authority, and documented outcomes—not absorbed into procedural theater. Appeal integrity ensures contestability yields real corrective action.
Strong integrity requires publishable decision artifacts, reversible outcomes, and safeguards against retaliatory handling.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- The share of appeals receiving a decision artifact is tracked and published.
- Appeals include named authority with overturn power rather than advisory review only.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Appeal Integrity to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- An appeals dashboard shows overturn rate, rationale categories, and median response time by decision class.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Civic services · Essay
Glossary term
Escalation Reliability
Definition
Escalation paths work under load, after hours, and for novices—not just in theory. Reliable escalation keeps ethical load paths intact when stress is highest.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Escalation drills hit time-to-human and time-to-decision targets across nights, weekends, and peak load.
- Novice users can reach the same escalation path without privileged channels.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Escalation Reliability to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Decision Reversal Authority
Definition
A formally granted power to undo harmful decisions, not merely recommend reconsideration. Decision reversal authority turns reversibility into an enforceable capability with named ownership.
Authority should include scope boundaries, auditability, and response clocks so reversals can occur during live incidents.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- A named role has unilateral reversal power for defined classes of harm.
- Policy and tooling document how reversals are executed and logged.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Decision Reversal Authority to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A safety officer can immediately reverse automated account suspensions for urgent livelihood-impact cases without waiting for weekly review.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Restitution Ladder
Definition
A tiered remedy system that moves from apology to reversal, compensation, repair service, and systemic fix triggers. The restitution ladder ensures pathways to restitution stay practical and selectable.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- The restitution ladder exists, is selectable in policy or tooling, and is routinely used.
- Case reviews show remedies advancing beyond apologies when harm warrants compensation or repair services.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Restitution Ladder to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Remedy Equivalence
Definition
Manual and automated channels must offer equivalent remedy outcomes, timelines, and authority. People should not be penalized for choosing accessibility, safety, or human review paths.
Remedy equivalence is measured by comparing reversal rates, escalation success, and time-to-resolution across channels.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Appeal passage rates and time-to-resolution are compared across manual and automated channels.
- Policy guarantees that manual paths can reach the same remedy outcomes as automated paths.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Remedy Equivalence to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A disability accommodation appeal filed by phone has the same overturn authority and SLA as the web portal process.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Case Ownership Continuity
Definition
Cases do not become orphaned across handoffs; ownership persists through vacations, organizational changes, or vendor transfers. Case ownership continuity strengthens traceable ownership for contested decisions.
Scope
H. Governance & power. Structures that determine who sets moral boundaries and who can intervene.
Operational tests
- Cases never enter a “no owner” state, and ownership transitions are logged and visible.
- Handoff procedures assign a new owner with backup coverage before the previous owner exits.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Case Ownership Continuity to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Section I
I. Friction & flow
I. Friction & flow entries (10)
Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Glossary term
Protective Friction
Definition
Friction intentionally added to slow harmful processes and keep moral latency within safe bounds. Protective friction inserts checkpoints where speed would otherwise amplify risk.
It should be targeted and proportional: enough to prevent harm, not enough to create punitive burden.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect protective friction.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates protective friction in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Protective Friction to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- High-risk account changes require a second authenticated confirmation before execution.
References
- Design process · Guide
- AI governance · Resource
Glossary term
Punitive Friction
Definition
Friction that punishes users through unnecessary loops, opaque requirements, or repeated proof demands. Punitive friction often masks extraction by endurance as policy.
Unlike protective friction, it raises cost without improving safety or repair outcomes.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect punitive friction.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates punitive friction in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Punitive Friction to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A dispute process forces users through multiple redundant forms before any human review is allowed.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Procedural Burden as Price
Definition
Paperwork and “friction” are not incidental; they are rationing mechanisms that should be capped, disclosed, or penalized.
Procedural burden as price exposes punitive friction and steepens the burden gradient.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect procedural burden as price.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates procedural burden as price in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Procedural Burden as Price to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Dignity Friction
Definition
Friction that preserves autonomy, such as double checks on irreversible actions and plain-language confirmation states. Dignity friction helps people understand consequences before commitment without shaming them for caution.
It differs from punitive friction because the cost is proportional to risk and paired with clear pathways forward.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect dignity friction.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates dignity friction in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Dignity Friction to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- Before account deletion, the interface requires a brief confirmation with restore options and support contact details.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Design process · Guide
Glossary term
Velocity Friction
Definition
Friction added specifically to prevent runaway system behaviors in high-speed workflows. Velocity friction creates deliberate pauses before scale multiplies harm.
Common mechanisms include rate limits, staged rollouts, and mandatory human checkpoints tied to ethical interrupts.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect velocity friction.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates velocity friction in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Velocity Friction to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A recommendation engine rollout is throttled by cohort with auto-pause triggers when harmful engagement signals rise.
References
- Diagnostics · Resource
- AI governance · Resource
Glossary term
Safety Valve
Definition
A deliberate release point that lets people slow, pause, or reroute automation before harm compounds.
Safety valves pair stoppability with dignity friction so high-stakes flows default to reversible states and route to humans without penalty.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect safety valve.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates safety valve in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Safety Valve to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Related mechanisms
- MEC-02 Progressive consent prompts Friction, Policy
- MEC-05 Kill switch for runaway automation Governance, Friction
See the full mechanisms catalog.
Glossary term
Consent Journey
Definition
The sequenced touchpoints where a person learns what a system will do, grants or denies permission, and can revise that choice over time.
Strong consent journeys use anticipatory consent, visible permission surfaces, and healthy refusal budgets so pausing or exiting does not jeopardize access or care.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect consent journey.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates consent journey in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Consent Journey to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Humane Friction
Definition
The calibrated blend of protective, dignity, and velocity frictions across a full user journey. Humane friction slows only where risk, irreversibility, or coercion pressure is high.
Good humane friction is explainable, reversible, and measurable: it reduces downstream harm without trapping people in needless process burden.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect humane friction.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates humane friction in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Humane Friction to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A lending flow adds extra verification only for high-risk decisions and offers an accessible appeal path when checks block approval.
References
- Design process · Guide
- AI governance · Resource
Glossary term
Appropriate Friction
Definition
Deliberate slowdowns or checkpoints inserted where harm would be costly or irreversible. Appropriate friction treats velocity friction and ethical interrupts as safety features.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect appropriate friction.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates appropriate friction in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Appropriate Friction to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- High-risk data exports require a second reviewer before completion.
References
- Mechanisms catalog · Reference
Glossary term
Frictionless Harm
Definition
Harms that spread unchecked because safeguards or pauses were stripped away. Frictionless harm is the inverse of protective friction; it appears when velocity friction and dignity friction are absent.
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect frictionless harm.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates frictionless harm in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Frictionless Harm to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Section J
J. Decision states & edges
J. Decision states & edges entries (19)
Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Glossary term
Decision Edge
Definition
The precise moment when a choice shifts from reversible to consequential. Making the decision edge visible enables dignity friction, clearer consent, and routing to ethical interrupts when risk spikes.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect decision edge.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates decision edge in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Decision Edge to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Decision Artifact
Definition
A discrete, attributable, contestable output: outcome + reason + timestamp + accountable owner.
Decision artifacts anchor traceable ownership and make contestability measurable.
Minimum evidence
- User-facing artifact.
- Internal log.
- Drill / rehearsal.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect decision artifact.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates decision artifact in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Decision Artifact to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Decision Object
Definition
Normative definition. A Decision Object is a versioned, inspectable record that encodes the rules, inputs, thresholds, and authority governing an operational decision.
Decision objects are first-class governance artifacts, not just logic. They must specify ownership, appealability, reversibility, and temporal obligations. Decisions that affect access, status, or rights must be backed by an active decision object.
Minimal JSON schema (governance-grade).
{
"decision_object_id": "DO-ACCESS-0041",
"decision_name": "Eligibility Determination",
"status": "active",
"owner_role": "Risk Operations",
"authority": {
"issuing_body": "Eligibility Committee",
"delegation_basis": "Policy §4.2"
},
"inputs": [
{"name": "income_verified", "type": "boolean"},
{"name": "employment_duration_months", "type": "integer"}
],
"decision_logic": {
"model_type": "ruleset",
"description": "Income verification + minimum employment duration"
},
"outputs": [
{"value": "approved"},
{"value": "denied"},
{"value": "pending_review"}
],
"reversibility": {
"allowed": true,
"mechanism": "human_override",
"reversal_sla_id": "RSLA-002"
},
"contestability": {
"appealable": true,
"appeal_channel": "formal_request",
"binding_clock_id": "BC-010"
},
"audit": {
"last_updated": "2026-01-10",
"version": "1.3.0",
"change_log_ref": "CH-884"
}
}Ethotechnics move. This reframes “the system decided” into “this object did.” Once the object exists, accountability stops being philosophical.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect decision object.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates decision object in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Decision Object to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Binding Clock
Definition
Normative definition. A Binding Clock is an enforceable timer governing system obligations once a decision enters a pending or contested state.
The clock continues to accrue regardless of internal workload, staffing constraints, or review queues unless explicitly paused under defined conditions.
Clock semantics (design-legible).
binding_clock_id: BC-010
trigger_event: decision_status == "pending_review"
start_condition: timestamp_of_trigger
pause_conditions:
- mutual_extension_agreed
- documented_external_dependency
pause_requires:
approver_role: Ombuds Officer
public_log: true
timeout_effects:
- default_to_human_review
- interim_access_granted
clock_visibility: user_visibleWhy this matters. Without a binding clock, delay is power, silence is treated as consent, and “we’re reviewing” becomes infinite. With it, time itself becomes a governed surface and institutions pay for waiting.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect binding clock.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates binding clock in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Binding Clock to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Reversal SLA
Definition
Normative definition. A Reversal SLA specifies maximum allowable time, authority, and procedure for undoing or correcting a decision once contested or found erroneous.
Reversal performance is a core reliability metric, not an exception.
Contract-ready clause.
Reversal Commitment. Upon receipt of a valid reversal request, Provider shall initiate human review within 24 hours and complete reversal or affirm decision within 5 business days. Failure to meet this obligation shall result in interim restoration of access and applicable service credits.
Operational metrics (what you actually track).
{
"reversal_sla_id": "RSLA-002",
"time_to_human_hours": 24,
"time_to_reversal_days": 5,
"escalation_path": [
"Ops Lead",
"Risk Director",
"Independent Reviewer"
],
"breach_consequence": "automatic_interim_restoration"
}Ethotechnics move. Most systems optimize time-to-deny. This forces optimization of time-to-repair.
Interlock. Decision Objects define what happened and who owns it. Binding Clocks govern how long uncertainty is allowed to exist. Reversal SLAs enforce how quickly harm must be undone. Together, “You can appeal” becomes “Appeal changes the system’s obligations.”
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect reversal SLA.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates reversal SLA in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Reversal SLA to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Non-Decision
Definition
A stable administrative disposition where a system withholds a contestable outcome (“pending,” “in review”) while consequences accrue.
Non-decisions stretch moral latency and erode contestability by keeping people in limbo.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect non-decision.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates non-decision in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Non-Decision to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Unearned Closure
Definition
The system marks something resolved without repairing the underlying harm; the residual cost remains with the person.
Unearned closure converts unresolved obligations into status changes and often hides behind attrition-as-resolution or closure-code regimes.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect unearned closure.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates unearned closure in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Unearned Closure to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Stable Clock
Definition
A non-resettable timeline for a case; the system cannot restart time via re-ticketing, re-verification, or channel switching.
Stable clocks enforce bounded duration and keep timelines legible.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect stable clock.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates stable clock in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Stable Clock to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Utility Window
Definition
The time span during which relief can still prevent the relevant harm.
Designing for a clear utility window keeps time-to-restore accountable.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect utility window.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates utility window in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Utility Window to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Utility Expiry
Definition
Crossing the utility window; relief arrives too late to matter.
Utility expiry converts support into paperwork and should trigger constructive denial or repair.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect utility expiry.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates utility expiry in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Utility Expiry to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Futility Threshold
Definition
The point where time-on-task or repetition becomes so costly that valid claimants predictably abandon pursuit.
Systems that hit the futility threshold signal punitive friction and low contestability.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect futility threshold.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates futility threshold in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Futility Threshold to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Constructive Denial
Definition
A legal state where delay is treated as refusal because it destroys utility or makes pursuit futile.
Constructive denial recognizes utility expiry and forces accountable remedies.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect constructive denial.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates constructive denial in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Constructive Denial to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Critical Action
Definition
Any system action that meaningfully alters a person’s status, access, or trajectory. Critical actions require dignity friction.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect critical action.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates critical action in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Critical Action to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Irreversible Boundary
Definition
A threshold the system cannot automatically undo—account closures, public releases, or data publication. Crossing it demands heightened contestability, audited explanations, and explicit time-to-restore plans.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect irreversible boundary.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates irreversible boundary in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Irreversible Boundary to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Ethical Interrupts
Definition
Automatic system-level halts triggered by anomalies, harm indicators, or policy boundary breaches. Ethical interrupts operationalize stoppability by turning warning signals into enforceable pauses.
They must include clear ownership, audit trails, and restart criteria so pauses protect people without becoming arbitrary lockouts.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ethical interrupts.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethical interrupts in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethical Interrupts to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Related mechanisms
- MEC-05 Kill switch for runaway automation Governance, Friction
- MEC-06 Appeal paths inside the UI Friction, Governance
See the full mechanisms catalog.
Example corpus
- A model-serving pipeline halts promotion when subgroup harm metrics breach policy limits and requires cross-functional signoff before restart.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Diagnostics · Resource
Glossary term
Actionability Threshold
Definition
The level of confidence, authorization, and oversight required before information becomes action. Raising the actionability threshold protects against low-signal decisions and clarifies design authority.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect actionability threshold.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates actionability threshold in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Actionability Threshold to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A fraud alert triggers action only after confidence and authorization checks.
References
- Governance playbook · Guide
Glossary term
Normative Uncertainty
Definition
Situations where it is unclear what the “right” action is, requiring caution, clarification, or human judgment rather than confident automation. Normative uncertainty often triggers ethical interrupts and a higher actionability threshold.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect normative uncertainty.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates normative uncertainty in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Normative Uncertainty to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- When guidance conflicts, the system pauses and requests human judgment.
References
- Governance playbook · Guide
Glossary term
Harm Receipt
Definition
A claimant-facing artifact documenting what happened, what the system believes, and what it will do next, by when. Harm receipts make decision artifacts legible to affected people.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- Receipts are issued automatically for defined incident classes and include named owner and clock.
- Receipts capture what happened, the system’s belief, and the next steps with timelines.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Harm Receipt to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Access Cliff
Definition
A threshold where small variance causes catastrophic loss of service, such as lockout, termination, or loss of benefits. Access cliffs are mitigated with soft edges and gradual ramps.
Scope
J. Decision states & edges. Where and how decisions flip from reversible to permanent.
Operational tests
- An access cliff inventory exists with mandated soft edges or gradual ramps.
- Policies prohibit catastrophic loss from minor variance without a graduated path.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Access Cliff to extend the j. decision states & edges vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Section K
K. System patterns & anti-patterns
K. System patterns & anti-patterns entries (6)
Recurring structures that demand Ethotechnic countermeasures.
Glossary term
Heroism-Dependent Systems
Definition
Systems that rely on extraordinary effort, unpaid care, or silent sacrifice to function. They mask poor stoppability and high failure load.
Scope
K. System patterns & anti-patterns. Recurring structures that demand Ethotechnic countermeasures.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect heroism-dependent systems.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates heroism-dependent systems in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Heroism-Dependent Systems to extend the k. system patterns & anti-patterns vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Empathy Surrogacy
Definition
Simulated warmth—chatbots, scripted apologies, tone guidelines—used to mask structural harm or delay fixes. Empathy surrogacy diverts attention from repair and weakens contestability by substituting sentiment for remedy.
Scope
K. System patterns & anti-patterns. Recurring structures that demand Ethotechnic countermeasures.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect empathy surrogacy.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates empathy surrogacy in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Empathy Surrogacy to extend the k. system patterns & anti-patterns vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Error Cascades
Definition
Small automated mistakes that amplify across the system through retries, shared dependencies, or blind handoffs. Error cascades are rarely one bug: they are chain reactions in tightly coupled workflows.
Containment depends on ethical interrupts, clear rollback boundaries, and SLJs that trigger action before harms compound.
Scope
K. System patterns & anti-patterns. Recurring structures that demand Ethotechnic countermeasures.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect error cascades.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates error cascades in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Error Cascades to extend the k. system patterns & anti-patterns vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A flawed fraud rule mislabels transactions, which triggers automatic account locks, support backlog spikes, and delayed rent payments.
References
- Diagnostics · Resource
- Maintenance simulator · Tool
Glossary term
Invisible Fallbacks
Definition
Hidden behaviors that appear under stress—shadow queues, silent throttling, or undocumented overrides. Invisible fallbacks obscure ethical load paths and should be surfaced through graceful rollback lanes and rehearsed in maintenance windows.
Scope
K. System patterns & anti-patterns. Recurring structures that demand Ethotechnic countermeasures.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect invisible fallbacks.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates invisible fallbacks in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Invisible Fallbacks to extend the k. system patterns & anti-patterns vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Dead-User Zones
Definition
Places where people affected by decisions cannot contest, appeal, or exit—opaque rankings, automated bans, or unmoderated queues. Closing dead-user zones requires widening the permission surface and raising appeal passage rates.
Scope
K. System patterns & anti-patterns. Recurring structures that demand Ethotechnic countermeasures.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect dead-user zones.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates dead-user zones in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Dead-User Zones to extend the k. system patterns & anti-patterns vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Moral Lock-In
Definition
When harmful defaults become entrenched through dependencies, network effects, or contracts that block reform. Moral lock-in is prevented by moral feature gating, contestability, and vigilant moral drift control.
Scope
K. System patterns & anti-patterns. Recurring structures that demand Ethotechnic countermeasures.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect moral lock-in.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates moral lock-in in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Moral Lock-In to extend the k. system patterns & anti-patterns vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Section L
L. Future concepts / research areas
L. Future concepts / research areas entries (39)
These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Glossary term
Moral Drift Control
Definition
Instrumentation and controls that detect when system behavior drifts from ethical baselines—through MPIs or user testimony—and automatically trigger interrupts or design changes.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect moral drift control.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates moral drift control in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Moral Drift Control to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Structural Gentleness Coefficients
Definition
Measures of how forgiving an infrastructure is to human variance: error tolerance, recovery time, and soft edges. Higher coefficients correlate with lower failure load and safer degradation.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect structural gentleness coefficients.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates structural gentleness coefficients in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Structural Gentleness Coefficients to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Burden Elasticity
Definition
How effort and risk stretch or rebound between actors when conditions change. Mapping burden elasticity alongside the burden gradient prevents crises from snapping back onto the least powerful.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect burden elasticity.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates burden elasticity in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Burden Elasticity to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Care Redundancy
Definition
Overlapping care pathways—humans, automation, and policy—that ensure someone is caught when another safeguard fails. Care redundancy pairs with graceful degradation to keep failure load low.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect care redundancy.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates care redundancy in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Care Redundancy to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Meta-Contestability
Definition
Mechanisms that let people challenge not just outcomes but the rules of challenge themselves—who may appeal, what evidence counts, and who sits on review panels. Meta-contestability keeps contestability from ossifying.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect meta-contestability.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates meta-contestability in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Meta-Contestability to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
User-State Modeling for Harm Prevention
Definition
Inferring user states—fatigue, distress, inattention—to adapt pacing, add protective friction, or route to humans before harm compounds. Models must respect anticipatory consent and avoid new burden transfers.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect user-state modeling for harm prevention.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates user-state modeling for harm prevention in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses User-State Modeling for Harm Prevention to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Design for Ethical Latency
Definition
Designing for unavoidable delay between action and ethical evaluation by staging risky steps, adding velocity friction, or seeking care floor guarantees while fuller review occurs.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect design for ethical latency.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates design for ethical latency in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Design for Ethical Latency to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Distributed Accountability Protocols
Definition
Coordination methods that keep responsibility legible across teams and automation: shared playbooks, auditable handoffs, and repair logs. Protocols prevent accountability diffusion when work moves.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect distributed accountability protocols.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates distributed accountability protocols in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Distributed Accountability Protocols to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Ethotechnic Failure Taxonomy
Definition
A common vocabulary for classifying moral failure modes—optimization myopia, brittleness, extraction, and more—so incidents can be compared, learned from, and prevented.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ethotechnic failure taxonomy.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethotechnic failure taxonomy in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethotechnic Failure Taxonomy to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Adaptive Refusal Pathways
Definition
Dynamic flows that reroute tasks when someone pauses or declines, preserving context and avoiding retaliation. Adaptive pathways extend refusal budgets and strengthen refusal tolerance.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect adaptive refusal pathways.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates adaptive refusal pathways in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Adaptive Refusal Pathways to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Aftercare Automation
Definition
Automated follow-up that checks on impacted people after incidents, schedules remedies, and prompts humans to close the loop. Done well, it lowers moral debt without creating new moral overhead.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect aftercare automation.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates aftercare automation in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Aftercare Automation to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Alignment Dividend
Definition
The measurable upside—trust, retention, safety—generated when systems align with human values. Tracking the dividend builds the business case for sustained investment in MPIs and maintenance metabolism.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect alignment dividend.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates alignment dividend in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Alignment Dividend to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Ambiguity Budgets
Definition
Explicit allowances for uncertainty that prevent premature automation or brittle enforcement. Ambiguity budgets reserve time, human review, or maintenance windows until context is sufficient.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ambiguity budgets.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ambiguity budgets in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ambiguity Budgets to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Anticipatory Consent
Definition
Consent models that preview future data uses and let people pre-approve, defer, or block them. Anticipatory consent supports rights of exit and counters precision laundering of unclear terms.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect anticipatory consent.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates anticipatory consent in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Anticipatory Consent to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Boundary of Acceptable Harm
Definition
Dynamic thresholds defining when moral risk exceeds the system’s mandate and operations must halt or escalate. Boundaries are tied to SLJs and enforced through ethical circuit breakers.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect boundary of acceptable harm.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates boundary of acceptable harm in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Boundary of Acceptable Harm to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Care Floor Guarantees
Definition
Baseline commitments a service maintains even during outages or crises—live support, data export, or safe defaults. Care floors protect users when graceful degradation activates.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect care floor guarantees.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates care floor guarantees in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Care Floor Guarantees to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Compassion Telemetry
Definition
Signals that show whether interactions feel humane—response tone, wait times during distress, quality of follow-up. Compassion telemetry complements technical metrics to protect compassion bandwidth.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect compassion telemetry.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates compassion telemetry in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Compassion Telemetry to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Conflict Observability
Definition
Instrumentation that makes value conflicts visible in logs and dashboards before they erupt—flagging when SLJs trade off against throughput or when appeals spike. High observability enables earlier moral drift control.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect conflict observability.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates conflict observability in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Conflict Observability to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Counter-Abuse Guardrails
Definition
Limits that prevent tools from being repurposed for harassment, exploitation, or coercion—rate limits, anomaly detection, and human override lanes tuned for abuse scenarios.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect counter-abuse guardrails.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates counter-abuse guardrails in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Counter-Abuse Guardrails to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Crisis Rehearsal Loops
Definition
Regular drills that stress-test moral responses, not just uptime. They practice ethical interrupts, validate care floors, and update repair logs with lessons.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect crisis rehearsal loops.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates crisis rehearsal loops in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Crisis Rehearsal Loops to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Data Dignity Budgets
Definition
Caps on data collection and use that respect personhood and context, not just legal checkbox consent. Budgets align with anticipatory consent and guard against extraction.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect data dignity budgets.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates data dignity budgets in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Data Dignity Budgets to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Decision Debt Ledger
Definition
A register of deferred decisions and their moral interest, reviewed before debt compounds into harm. The ledger feeds maintenance windows and informs MPIs.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect decision debt ledger.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates decision debt ledger in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Decision Debt Ledger to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Downstream Equity Buffers
Definition
Design slack that absorbs variance so marginalized groups do not pay first or most when errors occur. Buffers include staggered rollouts, rollback lanes, and targeted support funds.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect downstream equity buffers.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates downstream equity buffers in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Downstream Equity Buffers to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Ethical Circuit Breakers
Definition
Automated stops that trip when moral risk indicators cross predefined set points—surges in appeals, bias metrics, or moral debt. They are the safety counterpart to financial circuit breakers.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ethical circuit breakers.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethical circuit breakers in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethical Circuit Breakers to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Ethical Load Testing
Definition
Deliberate exercises that probe how systems behave under moral stress—simulated harassment, mass appeals, or outage scenarios—to validate ethical circuit breakers and care floors.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ethical load testing.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethical load testing in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethical Load Testing to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Exhaustion Triggers
Definition
Signals that detect operator or user fatigue—error streaks, long queues, late-night decisions—and automatically slow, pause, or hand off flows before mistakes multiply. Triggers protect compassion bandwidth.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect exhaustion triggers.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates exhaustion triggers in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Exhaustion Triggers to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Friction Budgets
Definition
Planned allocations of protective and dignity frictions across journeys to balance safety with usability, rather than defaulting to speed.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect friction budgets.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates friction budgets in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Friction Budgets to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Graceful Rollback Lanes
Definition
Prepared routes to revert harmful decisions while preserving dignity, evidence, and service continuity. Rollback lanes keep irreversibility indices low and shorten time-to-restore.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect graceful rollback lanes.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates graceful rollback lanes in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Graceful Rollback Lanes to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Harm Amnesty Windows
Definition
Time-boxed periods where people can report or reverse harmful actions without penalty, encouraging disclosure and faster repair. Amnesty windows often follow rehearsal loops or incidents.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect harm amnesty windows.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates harm amnesty windows in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Harm Amnesty Windows to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Heat Maps of Refusal
Definition
Visualizations showing where users opt out, churn, or appeal—revealing coercion hotspots early. Heat maps help tune refusal budgets and redesign interaction surfaces.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect heat maps of refusal.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates heat maps of refusal in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Heat Maps of Refusal to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Human Override Lanes
Definition
Guaranteed routes for human judgment to supersede automation when stakes are high or context is missing. Override lanes accompany ethical interrupts and require clear ethical load paths.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect human override lanes.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates human override lanes in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Human Override Lanes to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Incident Memory Chains
Definition
Linked records that keep lessons from past incidents attached to similar workflows so knowledge stays actionable. Memory chains inform ethical load tests and prevent moral lock-in on bad patterns.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect incident memory chains.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates incident memory chains in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Incident Memory Chains to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Moral Dry Runs
Definition
Pre-launch walkthroughs that simulate ethical dilemmas to harden designs before they reach the public. Dry runs test circuit breakers, rollback lanes, and documentation.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect moral dry runs.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates moral dry runs in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Moral Dry Runs to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Moral Feature Gating
Definition
Controls that block feature launch until moral readiness criteria are met: oversight plans, contestability pathways, incident ownership, and minimum care floors. Moral feature gating treats ethical readiness as a release requirement.
It prevents shipping features that are technically viable but operationally unsafe for affected people.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect moral feature gating.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates moral feature gating in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Moral Feature Gating to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A personalization feature cannot launch until reversal paths, appeal handling capacity, and subgroup harm monitoring are verified.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Maintenance simulator · Tool
Glossary term
Pathways to Restitution
Definition
Documented steps a system must take to repair harm: acknowledgement, remedy, verification, and follow-up. Pathways reduce moral debt and belong in the repair log.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect pathways to restitution.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates pathways to restitution in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Pathways to Restitution to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Refusal-Aware Routing
Definition
Routing logic that accounts for who can decline tasks and ensures refusals are respected without retaliation or silent penalization. It preserves refusal budgets and keeps workflows humane.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect refusal-aware routing.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates refusal-aware routing in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Refusal-Aware Routing to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Relief Invariants
Definition
Assurances that regardless of pathway, people can access relief with predictable effort and support. Relief invariants are tested in crisis rehearsals and anchored by care floors.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect relief invariants.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates relief invariants in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Relief Invariants to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Repair Quorums
Definition
Minimum participation rules for authorizing fixes so impacted communities have a seat in deciding remedies. Repair quorums counter accountability diffusion and legitimize restitution.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect repair quorums.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates repair quorums in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Repair Quorums to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Rest Cycle Enforcement
Definition
Built-in mechanisms that enforce rest and recovery—rotation policies, cooldown timers, enforced downtime—so fatigue does not translate into harm. Enforcement protects maintenance metabolism and compassion bandwidth.
Scope
L. Future concepts / research areas. These placeholders signal Ethotechnics as an evolving field.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect rest cycle enforcement.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates rest cycle enforcement in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Rest Cycle Enforcement to extend the l. future concepts / research areas vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Section M
M. Foundational Ethotechnic principles
M. Foundational Ethotechnic principles entries (7)
Axioms that will eventually define the discipline. Full definitions are in development.
Glossary term
The Conservancy Principle
Definition
Designers steward human dignity and collective resources; they must leave systems safer and more reparable than they found them. Conservancy prioritizes repair, stoppability, and minimizing moral debt.
Scope
M. Foundational Ethotechnic principles. Axioms that will eventually define the discipline. Full definitions are in development.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect the conservancy principle.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates the conservancy principle in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses The Conservancy Principle to extend the m. foundational ethotechnic principles vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
The Burden Inversion Rule
Definition
When harm occurs, the system shoulders effort before the person harmed does. Burden inversion lowers the user burden ratio and demands rapid restoration.
Scope
M. Foundational Ethotechnic principles. Axioms that will eventually define the discipline. Full definitions are in development.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect the burden inversion rule.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates the burden inversion rule in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses The Burden Inversion Rule to extend the m. foundational ethotechnic principles vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
The Stop-Before-Explain Rule
Definition
Halt harmful behavior first, then justify or refine it. Systems must trigger ethical interrupts before offering explanations, preserving reversibility.
Scope
M. Foundational Ethotechnic principles. Axioms that will eventually define the discipline. Full definitions are in development.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect the stop-before-explain rule.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates the stop-before-explain rule in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses The Stop-Before-Explain Rule to extend the m. foundational ethotechnic principles vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
The Maintenance Doctrine
Definition
Ethical performance depends on continuous upkeep—funded maintenance metabolism, scheduled maintenance windows, and transparent repair logs. Maintenance is a standing obligation, not a cleanup phase.
The doctrine requires institutions to budget for prevention, rehearsal, and repair before incidents force emergency tradeoffs.
Scope
M. Foundational Ethotechnic principles. Axioms that will eventually define the discipline. Full definitions are in development.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect the maintenance doctrine.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates the maintenance doctrine in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses The Maintenance Doctrine to extend the m. foundational ethotechnic principles vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A product roadmap reserves recurring capacity for incident rehearsal and remediation work, protected from feature-priority overrides.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Maintenance simulator · Tool
Glossary term
The Principle of Low-Failure-Load Design
Definition
Design so that when failures occur, human impact is contained. This principle motivates graceful degradation, care floors, and low irreversibility indices.
Scope
M. Foundational Ethotechnic principles. Axioms that will eventually define the discipline. Full definitions are in development.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect the principle of low-failure-load design.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates the principle of low-failure-load design in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses The Principle of Low-Failure-Load Design to extend the m. foundational ethotechnic principles vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
The Reversibility Mandate
Definition
Critical actions must be undoable or paired with rollback lanes that can be exercised in real operating conditions. The mandate aligns with time-to-restore targets and contestability rights.
If reversal is impossible, systems should add explicit guardrails, higher review thresholds, and public ownership of residual risk.
Scope
M. Foundational Ethotechnic principles. Axioms that will eventually define the discipline. Full definitions are in development.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect the reversibility mandate.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates the reversibility mandate in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses The Reversibility Mandate to extend the m. foundational ethotechnic principles vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A benefits eligibility model deployment is blocked unless the team demonstrates a tested rollback path and a 24-hour restoration plan.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Civic services · Essay
Glossary term
The Contestability Guarantee
Definition
People affected by system decisions can challenge, change, or overturn them—and win. Guarantees include wide permission surfaces, high appeal passage rates, and transparent design authority.
Scope
M. Foundational Ethotechnic principles. Axioms that will eventually define the discipline. Full definitions are in development.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect the contestability guarantee.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates the contestability guarantee in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses The Contestability Guarantee to extend the m. foundational ethotechnic principles vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
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