blackroad-os-docs/docs/papers/agent-architecture/trinary-logic.md

Trinary Logic in BlackRoad OS

BlackRoad OS agents reason with three states: +1 (true/affirmed), 0 (unknown/undecided), and -1 (negated/contradictory). This representation keeps uncertainty explicit and allows contradictions to be managed rather than hidden.

Belief Representation

• Vectors of trinary values: Each proposition maps to {+1, 0, -1} to capture stance and uncertainty.
• Confidence weights: Optional weights can scale the impact of each value when aggregating across agents.
• Temporal context: Beliefs can be journaled over time, enabling a PS-SHA∞-backed history of shifts.

Combination Rules

• AND: Minimum of contributing values, keeping contradictions (-1) dominant over unknowns (0) and truths (+1).
• OR: Maximum of contributing values, preferring truths (+1) but preserving contradictions when present.
• Consensus: Weighted sums normalized to the trinary domain to find majority positions while surfacing disagreement.

Operational Patterns

• Decision gating: Actions require +1 consensus or explicit override when -1 appears.
• Escalation triggers: Presence of balanced +1 and -1 across critical propositions triggers contradiction events.
• Logging: Every aggregation result is written as a PS-SHA∞ entry for auditability.

TODOs

• Extend combination rules with temporal decay to emphasize recent evidence.
• Define canonical proposition sets for finance, compliance, and platform operations.