the atomic unit of knowledge. a neuron binds two particles with a signed, staked, timestamped assertion — every cyberlink is simultaneously a learning act and an economic commitment
cheap talk produces noise. costly links produce knowledge
the seven fields
$$\ell \;=\; (\nu,\; p,\; q,\; \tau,\; a,\; v,\; t) \;\in\; N \times P \times P \times \mathcal{T} \times \mathbb{R}_{+} \times \{-1,\,0,\,+1\} \times \mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$$
| field | name | type | layer | semantics | question |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $\nu$ | subject | $N$ | structural | signing neuron | who asserts this? |
| $p$ | from | $P$ | structural | source particle | what is the source? |
| $q$ | to | $P$ | structural | target particle | what is the target? |
| $\tau$ | token | $\mathcal{T}$ | economic | token denomination | in what denomination? |
| $a$ | amount | $\mathbb{R}_+$ | economic | stake amount | how much conviction? |
| $v$ | valence | $\{-1,0,+1\}$ | epistemic | BTS meta-prediction | what is the epistemic prediction? |
| $t$ | at | $\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$ | temporal | block height | when? |
three layers in one atomic record. structural $(\nu, p, q)$ is binary — the connection either exists or it doesn't. epistemic $v$ is ternary — the neuron's prediction of how the ICBS market on this edge will converge. economic $(\tau, a)$ is continuous over $\mathbb{R}_+$. see two three paradox for why this layering is not arbitrary
conviction = ($\tau$, $a$): the pair that turns an assertion into a bet. denomination selects the token, amount declares the stake. a link with zero conviction is structurally identical to a link with maximum conviction — the structural layer is binary. the conviction layer prices it
cyberlinks are bundled into cyber/signals for broadcast. the cyber/signal adds the computational layer: an cyber/impulse ($\pi_\Delta$ — the proven focus shift) and a recursive stark proof covering the entire batch. see cyber/signal for the full specification
the cybergraph is append-only. $t$ (block height) distinguishes every record: the same author linking from→to at block $t_1$ and again at block $t_2 > t_1$ produces two separate entries in $L$. this enables reinforcement (higher $a$ on a new record), valence updates (new $v$ at a new block), and multi-denomination staking (same structural link in different tokens)
conviction as UTXO
conviction is not a label attached to a link — it is a UTXO. creating a cyberlink is a transaction: the author moves $a$ tokens of denomination $\tau$ from a wallet UTXO to a new output bound to the cyberlink record. funds always move from one object to another. you cannot stake what you do not own.
the conviction output can itself be spent:
- transfer: spend the conviction UTXO to a new owner. the structural record stays in $L$; beneficial ownership moves. this is how the card's transferability operates at the protocol level
- withdraw: spend the conviction UTXO back to the author's wallet. the economic position closes. the structural record remains
the non-fungibility of the card (unique 7-tuple) and the fungibility of the token (transferable UTXO) coexist: the assertion is non-fungible, the economic position is a standard UTXO output
CRUD in the graph
the append-only graph expresses all four operations through cyberlinks:
| operation | cyberlink action | what changes |
|---|---|---|
| create | first record for structural triple $(\nu, p, q)$ | relation enters $L$ |
| read | query $\pi^*$ at any block — no link required | nothing |
| update | new record with new $(\tau, a, v, t)$ for the same triple | any mutable dimension |
| delete | withdraw conviction UTXO + new record with $v = -1$ | economic position closed, epistemic signal negated |
the three mutable dimensions — epistemic ($v$), economic ($a$), and temporal ($t$) — vary independently. every combination is meaningful:
| $v$ | $a$ | reading |
|---|---|---|
| $+1$ | high | funded affirmation — bet the market confirms |
| $+1$ | zero | unfunded affirmation — structural + epistemic signal, no economic exposure |
| $0$ | high | funded agnostic — stake without prediction |
| $0$ | zero | bare assertion — structural fact only |
| $-1$ | high | funded short — bet the market rejects |
| $-1$ | zero | logical retraction — epistemic negation, no economic exposure |
$v = -1$ does not mean the structural link is absent. the connection $p \to q$ is permanent (A3). $v = -1$ is the subject's prediction that the ICBS market on this edge will converge to FALSE — a funded short when $a > 0$, a pure retraction when $a = 0$
delete in the graph is never erasure. the record $(\nu, p, q, t_{\text{first}})$ stays in $L$ permanently. economic close and epistemic retraction are separable operations — a subject can withdraw conviction while keeping $v = +1$, or submit $v = -1$ while maintaining stake. the full semantic delete is both together
the card
every cyberlink is also a card — an epistemic asset with four properties:
immutable. axiom A3 (append-only) guarantees the record $\ell = (\nu, p, q, \tau, a, v, t)$ is permanent once published. the assertion cannot be altered or retracted. the author's conviction, valence, and timestamp are locked into the graph's history forever. immutability is what makes the card a credible commitment rather than a revisable claim
unique. the 7-tuple is the card's identity — no two cyberlinks are identical (block height $t$ ensures this even when the same author re-links the same particles). each card is non-fungible: it is a specific assertion, by a specific author, at a specific block, with a specific conviction
transferable. ownership of a cyberlink — and thus the rights to its yield and governance weight — can be transferred between neurons. the structural record stays in $L$ forever; beneficial ownership moves. this separates the assertion (immutable, authorial) from the economic position (transferable, tradeable)
yield-bearing. a cyberlink earns in proportion to how much the target particle gains focus:
$$R_\ell(T) = \int_0^T w(t) \cdot \Delta\pi^*(q, t)\, dt$$
where $w(t)$ is the conviction weight at time $t$ and $\Delta\pi^*(q, t)$ is the increment in the target particle's focus. a link that correctly anticipated an important particle — created early, with genuine conviction — earns the most. early discovery is maximally rewarded; late consensus-following earns little
the card unifies what financial instruments split: the assertion (content), the commitment (conviction), the epistemic signal (valence), and the yield right — all in one atomic, immutable, tradeable record
the first link
the protocol accepts any cyberlink as the first to a particle — there is no enforcement of what that first link must be. by convention, a name link is typically the first: it binds the raw hash to a human-readable identifier, making the particle discoverable. unnamed particles are hard to find and rarely linked further. naming emerges from practical necessity, not protocol enforcement. further links weave the particle into the cybergraph. the accumulated graph of all cyberlinks IS knowledge
edge labeling
a cyberlink has no built-in type field. labeling works through the graph itself: every directed edge induces an axon-particle via axiom A6 ($H(p, q) \in P$). to label an edge, create a cyberlink from a type-particle to the axon-particle:
A ──cyberlink──→ B the assertion
"is-a" ──cyberlink──→ axon(A, B) the label
any particle can serve as a label: is-a, contradicts, extends, cites, created-by. the label itself has cyberank, karma, market price — the graph weights the importance of relation types the same way it weights everything else
this means no new primitive is needed. the seven fields of the cyberlink tuple remain unchanged. metadata, annotations, and type labels are all cyberlinks to axon-particles — the graph describes its own structure
see cybergraph for the formal definition including all six axioms. see valence for the ternary epistemic field. see Bayesian Truth Serum for the scoring that uses $v$. see effective adjacency for how conviction weights enter the tri-kernel. see UTXO for the transaction model underlying conviction. see eternal cyberlinks for the permanent-premium variant. see knowledge economy for the full epistemic asset taxonomy
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