Core concepts
Essential terms for understanding Ethotechnics theory and practice.
Ethotechnics glossary
Ethotechnics glossary of moral system design and ethical technology: definitions, examples, and resources organized by territory with stable permalinks for research and policy teams.
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
Copy citation (APA)
Priority tiers
Start with core, then applied, then emerging.
This glossary captures Ethotechnics concepts as of January 2026. New theoretical development appears in the Research section.
Applied concepts
Terms practitioners use when designing or auditing care-centered systems.
Emerging concepts
Exploratory areas that are evolving with ongoing research.
Search across all terms or narrow by territory, tag, or status.
Showing 168 of 168 terms
No entries match that search or filter. Try another keyword or browse the territory map for nearby concepts.
Start with these terms
New to the glossary? These anchors provide the shared vocabulary most teams cite first.
- Ethotechnics
The discipline itself and how moral behavior becomes a system capability.
- Moral behavior
How systems avoid harm and distribute responsibility in practice.
- Consent journey
The checkpoints that keep consent informed and reversible over time.
Index
A–Z of Ethotechnic terms
Alphabetical list with 168 definitions ready to link directly.
Index links jump to canonical permalinks.
Map
Territory map
Browse glossary areas with entry counts.
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.
11 entries
Human limits
Human constraints and experience systems must respect.
7 entries
Burden & load
Who carries effort, cost, and harm when systems run or fail.
13 entries
Measures & indicators
Metrics that make moral performance legible.
11 entries
Governance & power
Who sets boundaries, who can intervene, and how.
20 entries
Friction & flow
Where to slow, pause, or smooth flows to protect people.
9 entries
Decision states & edges
Where decisions tip from reversible to permanent.
13 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 craft of designing systems that can behave morally. Where ethics asks “What should I do?” and systems theory asks “How does it behave?”, Ethotechnics asks: How can it behave well? Moral behavior is treated as an architectural capability, not a personal virtue.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ethotechnics.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethotechnics in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethotechnics to extend the a. core concepts vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A hospital release board adds Ethotechnic stop-checks before deploying triage updates to keep clinicians in control.
References
- AI governance · Resource
- Healthcare readiness checklist · Guide
Glossary term
Moral Behavior (of Systems)
Definition
Observable patterns of system behavior that prevent harm, share burden fairly, and keep people contestable and whole. Moral behavior is evaluated through MPIs such as time-to-halt, reversibility, and fair burden distribution—not by stated intent.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect moral behavior (of systems).
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates moral behavior (of systems) in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Moral Behavior (of Systems) to extend the a. core concepts vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A payments platform throttles recommendations when fraud signals spike until human reviewers clear the backlog.
References
- Civic services · Essay
- Maintenance simulator · Tool
Glossary term
Ethical Load Path
Definition
The route moral responsibility travels through a system—across automation, humans, and institutions. A clear ethical load path shows who can stop, reverse, or repair harm at each stage, linking design authority, oversight horizons, and the repair log.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ethical load path.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethical load path in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethical Load Path to extend the a. core concepts vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A transit authority publishes who can halt automated dispatch at each escalation step, including night-shift supervisors.
References
- Governance playbook · Guide
- Accountability architectures · Guide
Glossary term
Ethotechnic Audit
Definition
A structured assessment of a system’s capacity to stop harm, reverse it, distribute burden fairly, remain contestable, and enable accountability. Audits surface where stoppability or reversibility fail and guide concrete remediation steps.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ethotechnic audit.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethotechnic audit in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethotechnic Audit to extend the a. core concepts vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A platform review board runs an Ethotechnic audit after an outage to trace who could have halted or reversed the release.
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 and make opting out safe, so people can shape the service without being consumed by it.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect conviviality.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates conviviality in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Conviviality to extend the a. core concepts vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
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 fully a system embodies Ethotechnic capabilities. Early maturity focuses on stopping acute harms; later stages add graceful degradation, contestability, and regular care retrospectives. The highest level treats ethics as continuous operations, with published SLJs and funded maintenance practice.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ethotechnic maturity.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethotechnic maturity in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethotechnic Maturity to extend the a. core concepts vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A rail operator publishes service-level justice metrics and funds quarterly pause drills to keep reversibility fresh.
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.
Scope
A. Core concepts. These terms define the Ethotechnics discipline itself and set expectations for moral system design.
Adjacent terms
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect legibility.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates legibility in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Legibility to extend the a. core concepts vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- Residents receive a plain-language notice that cites the office and policy 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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect sociotechnical alignment.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates sociotechnical alignment in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Sociotechnical Alignment to extend the a. core concepts vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- Policy, tooling, and incentives all enforce the same stoppability rules.
References
- Accountability architectures · Guide
Section B
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists)
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists) entries (14)
Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Glossary term
Moral Latency
Definition
The delay between harm occurring and the system recognizing it. Automated systems create harms faster than human oversight can register, demanding velocity friction and ethical interrupts.
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 moral latency.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates moral latency in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Moral Latency to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A clinic triage chatbot keeps routing people while harm reports queue for hours, hiding the moral latency from clinicians.
References
- Healthcare safeguards · Guide
Glossary term
Accountability Diffusion
Definition
Responsibility dissolves across teams, tools, and incentives until no one can intervene. A defining pattern of modern institutions and a direct threat to clear design authority.
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 accountability diffusion.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates accountability diffusion in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Accountability Diffusion to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect extraction.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates extraction in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Extraction to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
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 depend 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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect extraction by endurance.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates extraction by endurance in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Extraction by Endurance to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Drift (System Drift)
Definition
The natural tendency of systems to externalize harm over time unless constrained by protective friction and moral performance indicators.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect drift (system drift).
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates drift (system drift) in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Drift (System Drift) to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Externalization
Definition
Pushing risk, cost, or harm onto other teams, communities, or the future so metrics look clean. Externalization shows up as pollution, shadow labor, or brittle dependencies that live 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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect externalization.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates externalization in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Externalization to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Brittleness
Definition
When a system shatters under real-world variance—unexpected inputs, refusals, or edge cases—forcing humans to absorb 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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect brittleness.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates brittleness in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Brittleness to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A flight booking bot fails on hyphenated surnames, forcing airport agents to override tickets 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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect optimization myopia.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates optimization myopia in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Optimization Myopia to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
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.
Scope
B. Failure modes (why Ethotechnics exists). Common patterns where responsibility dissolves and harm accelerates.
Operational tests
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect precision laundering.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates precision laundering in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Precision Laundering to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Compliance Collapse
Definition
When rigid policy checklists replace judgment, causing teams to follow rules while harm worsens. Compliance collapses occur 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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect compliance collapse.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates compliance collapse in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Compliance Collapse to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
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.
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 ethics debt.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethics debt in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethics Debt to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- A recommender launches without consent review, adding unresolved risks to the repair log.
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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect unowned harm.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates unowned harm in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Unowned Harm to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- Denied applicants cannot identify a responsible team to contest a decision.
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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect ethics theater.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates ethics theater in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Ethics Theater to extend the b. failure modes (why ethotechnics exists) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Example corpus
- The team publishes a code of ethics but lacks monitoring or a repair log.
References
- Governance playbook · Guide
Section C
C. Ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do)
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 and automatically—without requiring heroism or escalation.
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 stoppability.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates stoppability in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Stoppability to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Related mechanisms
- MEC-05 Kill switch for runaway automation Governance, Friction
- MEC-03 Maintenance windowing Governance, Policy
See the full mechanisms catalog.
Glossary term
Reversibility
Definition
Critical actions can be undone. Damage is not permanent by default, and time-to-restore stays 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 reversibility.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates reversibility in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Reversibility to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Fair Burden Distribution
Definition
Failures do not fall hardest on the most vulnerable. Burden is treated as a design variable and measured via the user burden ratio.
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 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.
Glossary term
Contestability
Definition
People affected by system decisions can challenge, change, or overturn them—and win. Contestability combines permission surface and 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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect contestability.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates contestability in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Contestability to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Explainability for Accountability
Definition
Explanations that are actionable, not decorative. They reveal who made a decision and how it can be corrected, enabling contestability and audits.
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 explainability for accountability.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates explainability for accountability in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Explainability for Accountability to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Glossary term
Human Refusal-Tolerance
Definition
The system remains usable when people opt out, are confused, make mistakes, or withdraw cooperation. Refusal tolerance prevents extraction by endurance by ensuring refusals do not silently convert into extra unpaid work.
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 human refusal-tolerance.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates human refusal-tolerance in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Human Refusal-Tolerance to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
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
- Evidence appears in documentation, interface cues, or governance artifacts that reflect soft edges.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates soft edges in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Soft Edges to extend the c. ethotechnic capabilities (what systems must be able to do) vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
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 (11)
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.
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-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.
Glossary term
Fail-Open Mode
Definition
The system defaults to permissiveness under failure—sometimes necessary, sometimes dangerous. Must be paired with velocity friction.
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-open mode.
- Teams can point to a concrete example that demonstrates fail-open mode in practice.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Fail-Open Mode to extend the d. system states & architectures vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
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.
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.
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.
Section E
E. Human limits & experience
E. Human limits & experience entries (7)
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.
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 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.
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
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 (13)
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.
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 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.
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 onto humans, often triggering 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 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.
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 bad system.
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 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.
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
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
Section G
G. Measures & indicators
G. Measures & indicators entries (11)
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. SLJs should sit alongside uptime and latency commitments.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Section H
H. Governance & power
H. Governance & power entries (20)
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
What users can do without institutional approval — a measure of autonomy and a prerequisite for contestability.
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 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.
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 or retaliation. A foundational condition for ethical participation.
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 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.
Glossary term
Externalized Harm Channels
Definition
The pathways an institution uses to push risk or cleanup onto others: contractors, users, bystanders, or future teams. Mapping these channels exposes externalization and informs fair burden distribution.
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 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.
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.
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 record; no forced repetition of validated inputs.
Continuity of state reduces temporal exaction and protects contestability.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Time Transparency to extend the h. governance & power vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.
Section I
I. Friction & flow
I. Friction & flow entries (9)
Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Glossary term
Protective Friction
Definition
Friction that slows harmful processes and keeps moral latency within safe bounds.
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 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.
Glossary term
Punitive Friction
Definition
Friction that punishes users—often hidden in bureaucratic loops. Signals extraction by endurance.
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 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.
Glossary term
Dignity Friction
Definition
Friction that preserves autonomy, such as double checks on irreversible actions.
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 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.
Glossary term
Velocity Friction
Definition
Friction added specifically to prevent runaway system behaviors. Often implemented through ethical interrupts.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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 (13)
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.
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
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
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 or harm indicators. Ethical interrupts operationalize stoppability.
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 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.
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
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. Prevented through ethical interrupts and SLJs.
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 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.
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—oversight plans, contestability pathways, and care floors—are met.
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 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.
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 logs.
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 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.
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. The mandate aligns with time-to-restore targets and contestability.
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 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.
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.