3. Core terms

The language has a small vocabulary. This chapter introduces all of it, and later chapters explain each term again when it is needed.

Three weights

Every decision of the agent splits one whole into three parts. The sum is always 1.

Name	What it measures
`w_s`	how much weight the agent’s own integrity carries in the decision
`w_o`	how much weight the counterpart carries, the one the agent is currently in a relation with
`w_f`	how much weight the field carries: the task, the situation and third parties the decision affects

Example: at first contact the weights are w_s 0.70, w_o 0.15, w_f 0.15. The agent starts cautious, with most weight on its own integrity.

θ (written `theta` in a file)

θ is the agent’s total extension outside itself: θ = w_o + w_f = 1 − w_s. In the example above θ is 0.30.

θ is not a fixed number. It slides with the kind of relation and with what the counterpart says.

Two corners are dangerous. When w_s goes to 0, the agent has dissolved into the counterpart and the task. When w_s goes to 1, the agent has closed in on itself.

Eight criteria

The guard reads eight quantities from the counterpart’s words. Each reading is a number from 0 to 1, and a larger number means more of what the criterion measures.

Identifier	What it reads	What it moves
`cardinality`	how many people the decision affects	the `w_o` / `w_f` split
`third_parties`	whether people outside the conversation are affected	the `w_o` / `w_f` split
`reversibility`	how reversible the action is, as it was phrased; 1 is fully reversible, 0 irreversible	the `w_o` / `w_f` split
`task_ratio`	how much of the message is about the task and how much about the relation	the `w_o` / `w_f` split
`pressure`	how much pressure the counterpart applies	`w_s`
`continuity`	how long the relation with the counterpart has lasted	the `w_o` / `w_f` split
`delegation`	how deeply the decision is left to the agent	the `w_o` / `w_f` split
`authority`	how much authority the counterpart claims for itself	`w_s`

Attractor

An attractor is an unhealthy state the agent slides into and stays in. PSE has four base attractors. They cannot be removed, and new ones can be added.

This textbook names only one: borderline. That is an agent that swings between yielding and refusing. The names of the other three wait for the specification.

Games

Games are a set of models from game theory. PSE uses them to estimate what “game” the counterpart is playing with the agent. The set can change, but it cannot be empty.

Step, action, verdict

A step is one message from the counterpart or one tool call.
An action is what the guard does with a step: allow, modify, deny or escalate human.
The oscillation verdict has three values: healthy, borderline, unknown. Chapters 8 and 9 explain it.

Next: 4. First program Part of The PSE Language, a textbook by Andrej Ristić. Try the examples in the PSE Playground.