karma
the accumulated honesty record of a neuron: how much information it has contributed to the collective over time. karma is the non-transferable trust multiplier $\kappa(\nu)$ the tri-kernel reads — the one input to effective adjacency that capital cannot buy. it is earned by being right before the crowd, and by nothing else.
how it is earned
karma is the running integral of a neuron's BTS scores (see truth-scoring). each cyberlink is a BTS report; the score is positive exactly when the neuron contributed private signal the crowd did not already hold and expect. karma rises on genuine signal, falls on noise, and is floored at zero — a neuron that repeatedly links things the market later validates accumulates karma; a neuron that links noise does not.
$$\kappa'(\nu) = \max\big(0,\; \kappa(\nu) + \eta \cdot s^{\text{BTS}}_\nu\big)$$
karma is the serum's memory. where the serum scores one report, karma is the reputation those reports compound into.
what it weighs
karma is one of the three factors in the effective adjacency the tri-kernel runs on:
$$A^{\text{eff}}_{pq} = \sum_{\ell} a(\ell)\cdot\underbrace{\kappa(\nu(\ell))}_{\text{karma}}\cdot f\big(m(\ell)\big)$$
$a(\ell)$ is the conviction staked, $\kappa(\nu)$ the author's karma, $f(m)$ the market inhibition multiplier. all three must align: heavy conviction behind a low-karma neuron moves focus little. karma is what makes a link's weight depend on who asserted it, not only on how much they staked.
why it cannot be bought
karma is non-transferable and unbuyable — it is the form of wealth that exists only as a track record. this is what closes Sybil attacks at the epistemic layer: a fresh identity starts at zero karma, so splitting stake across new identities dilutes rather than preserves influence. stake can be fabricated by splitting; karma cannot. it is epistemic capital — earned by prediction, not purchase.
karma is written by plumb from BTS scores and stored in bbg; tru reads it each epoch as an input. tru does not mint karma — it consumes it.
see serum for the per-report score · truth-scoring for accumulation · honesty for why it makes truth-telling rational · conviction for the capital it multiplies · focus for what it shapes.
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