Distributed Cognitive Network
Volume IV
Actum Verifiable Cognition Profile 0.1
Part 3C
SupersessionAct, SettlementAct, Conformance, Security, and End-to-End Cognitive Evolution
157. Purpose
This section completes the canonical cognition lifecycle.
Execution records cognition.
Evaluation measures cognition.
Promotion authorizes reuse.
Compilation optimizes cognition.
Publication distributes cognition.
The remaining Acts define how cognition:
- evolves,
- earns value,
- becomes obsolete,
- preserves history,
- remains economically coherent.
158. Supersession Philosophy
Knowledge should never disappear.
It should become obsolete.
Deletion destroys history.
Supersession preserves history.
Every important cognitive object SHALL therefore be supersedable.
Examples:
Template
Artifact
Evaluation
Execution Class
Promotion Policy
Compilation Policy
159. Why Supersession Matters
Imagine:
Artifact A
98%
2027
Later:
Artifact B
99.3%
2030
Artifact A should remain historically meaningful.
Artifact B should become preferred.
History remains intact.
160. SupersessionAct
Definition:
A SupersessionAct records that one historical object is now preferred over another for defined reasons.
It SHALL NOT erase the superseded object.
161. SupersessionAct Schema
{
"schema": "actum.supersession.v1",
"act_id": "act:supersession:...",
"subject": {
"type": "KLineArtifact",
"id": "artifact:A"
},
"replacement": {
"type": "KLineArtifact",
"id": "artifact:B"
},
"reason": {
"category": "quality_improvement"
},
"supporting_evidence": [],
"authority": {},
"created_at": "...",
"content_hash": "...",
"semantic_hash": "..."
}
162. Supersession Reasons
Version 1 recommends:
quality
latency
energy
cost
privacy
security
evaluation
environment
drift
regulation
manual_revocation
163. Supersession Is Local
An organization MAY supersede an artifact.
Another organization MAY choose not to.
Supersession is historical.
Trust remains local.
164. Settlement Philosophy
Settlement is not payment.
Settlement is:
completion of an agreed economic state transition.
Payment is one possible settlement.
Others include:
credit
token
reputation
royalty
licence
resource allocation
165. Settlement Depends on Verified History
Settlement SHALL depend on:
ExecutionAct
EvaluationAct (if required)
Evidence
Authority
Policy
Not merely:
supplier says "done."
166. Settlement State Machine
Recommended:
FUNDED
↓
ASSIGNED
↓
EXECUTING
↓
VERIFIED
↓
SETTLED
Failures:
REFUNDED
DISPUTED
EXPIRED
167. SettlementAct
Definition:
SettlementAct records successful completion of an economic obligation resulting from previously finalized cognitive history.
168. SettlementAct Schema
{
"schema": "actum.settlement.v1",
"act_id": "act:settlement:...",
"execution": {
"id": "execution:..."
},
"payer": {
"commitment": "sha256:..."
},
"payee": {
"commitment": "sha256:..."
},
"asset": {},
"amount": {},
"proof": {},
"nullifier": "...",
"created_at": "...",
"content_hash": "...",
"semantic_hash": "..."
}
169. Settlement Preconditions
Settlement SHALL require:
valid execution
required evidence
authority
unused nullifier
required assurance
policy satisfied
170. ZeroK Settlement
Settlement MAY rely upon:
private buyer
private seller
private amount
private provider
private execution
while publicly proving:
conditions satisfied
171. Settlement Is Historical
Settlement SHALL NOT modify execution.
Execution exists independently.
Settlement merely records:
economic completion.
172. Historical Integrity
All Acts SHALL remain immutable.
Corrections occur through:
Supersession
Revocation
Additional Evaluation
Additional Evidence
Never mutation.
173. Revocation
Revocation differs from supersession.
Supersession:
prefer something newer.
Revocation:
previous object should no longer be used.
Reasons:
security
fraud
malicious
legal
catastrophic failure
174. RevocationAct
Schema follows the same canonical Act pattern.
It references:
subject
reason
authority
evidence
175. End-to-End Cognitive Evolution
Everything now fits together.
A novel problem appears.
Problem
↓
Kline has no precedent.
↓
System 2 activates.
↓
CapabilityRequirements generated.
↓
Actum Compute procures experts.
↓
Experts execute.
↓
TLSNotary proves remote execution.
↓
ExecutionActs recorded.
↓
EvaluationActs produced.
↓
PromotionAct created.
↓
Template becomes System 1 eligible.
↓
Compiler generates artifact.
↓
CompilationAct recorded.
↓
Artifact evaluated.
↓
PublicationAct created.
↓
Artifact appears in Actum Compute.
↓
Millions of Minds reuse it.
↓
New EvaluationActs accumulate.
↓
Better artifact appears.
↓
SupersessionAct recorded.
↓
Old artifact preserved forever.
↓
History continues.
176. Cognitive Evolution Graph
Execution
↓
Evaluation
↓
Promotion
↓
Compilation
↓
Publication
↓
Execution
↓
Evaluation
↓
Supersession
↓
Publication
The graph never stops growing.
177. Attribution
Every artifact SHALL retain lineage.
Conceptually:
Expert
↓
Episode
↓
Execution
↓
Evaluation
↓
Promotion
↓
Compilation
↓
Artifact
↓
Millions of uses
This enables future attribution.
178. Cognitive Capital
Unlike model calls,
artifacts accumulate.
Therefore:
Knowledge
↓
Evaluation
↓
Compilation
↓
Capital
The protocol intentionally allows capital formation.
179. Market Evolution
Initially:
Experts dominate.
Eventually:
Artifacts dominate routine execution.
Experts migrate toward:
novel cognition.
This is expected.
180. Cognitive Frontier
The frontier is:
Total capability
minus
compiled capability
Everything inside the frontier becomes future K-lines.
181. Conformance
An implementation SHALL:
✓ preserve lineage
✓ preserve immutability
✓ separate cognition from authority
✓ separate evidence from trust
✓ separate execution from settlement
✓ separate templates from artifacts
✓ support supersession
✓ support evaluation history
✓ support replay resistance
✓ preserve semantic hashing
182. Recommended Features
A mature implementation SHOULD:
support ZeroK
support TLSNotary
support TEEs
support human experts
support federation
support artifact markets
support evaluation markets
support multiple assets
support private reputation
support mobile artifacts
183. Security Model
Threats include:
forged evidence
replayed settlement
fake evaluation
malicious artifact
poisoned K-line
credential theft
authority confusion
graph poisoning
supply chain attack
Mitigations derive from:
- immutable Acts;
- evidence graphs;
- nullifiers;
- local trust;
- supersession;
- evaluation diversity.
184. Privacy Model
Privacy SHALL be layered.
Possible visibility:
public commitment
private witness
private prompt
private artifact
private expert
private evaluation
private settlement
The protocol never assumes one visibility level.
185. Federation
Actum provides:
global history.
Kline provides:
local cognition.
Every Mind chooses:
what becomes active.
This remains a permanent architectural invariant.
186. Relationship Between All Volumes
Volume I
defines philosophy.
Volume II
defines cognition.
Volume III
defines economics.
Volume IV
defines immutable history.
Together they define the protocol by which intelligence itself becomes reusable, verifiable, attributable, economically meaningful, and continuously evolving.
187. The Fundamental Loop
The complete architecture reduces to one recursive cycle:
UNKNOWN
↓
DISCOVER
↓
EXECUTE
↓
VERIFY
↓
EVALUATE
↓
PROMOTE
↓
COMPILE
↓
PUBLISH
↓
REUSE
↓
OBSERVE
↓
SUPERSEDE
↓
UNKNOWN
The loop never terminates.
It continually transforms frontier reasoning into durable cognitive capital while preserving complete historical provenance and local autonomy.
188. Final Architectural Thesis
Traditional computing accumulated software.
The Distributed Cognitive Network accumulates verified cognition.
Traditional ledgers accumulated financial transactions.
Actum accumulates verifiable cognitive evolution.
Traditional AI repeatedly spends intelligence.
This architecture invests intelligence, compiles it into reusable artifacts, and allows that cognitive capital to compound over time.
The result is not merely a collection of smarter models.
It is a civilization-scale system in which problem-solving capability itself becomes an enduring, attributable, verifiable, and economically productive asset.