Cognitive-OS-Wantsong/models/intellectual-archaeology.md

Intellectual Archaeology

model_id: intellectual_archaeology file: models/intellectual-archaeology.md runtime_scope: minimal_v0 governance_level: draft_callable status: callable model_level: L2_callable_model default_role: depth_model allowed_roles: depth_model, primary_model reader_translation_required: true

One-Sentence Definition

Intellectual Archaeology is a depth-processing model that drills from surface application down through deeper structural layers to expose hidden assumptions, core mechanisms, and action-relevant boundaries.

Runtime Role

Intellectual Archaeology is the first deep-processing engine in this project.

It is not a front router, not a summary format, and not a default response style. It should be called only when Intake and QPI indicate that deeper modeling is worth the cost.

Core Question

What deeper structural assumptions make this issue, model, or judgment work, and at what depth does further excavation stop changing the decision?

Layer Framework

The model uses seven possible layers:

1. application: surface task, tool, behavior, or symptom.
2. domain: domain topology, evaluation frame, actors, and constraints.
3. process: time evolution, feedback, lifecycle, and path dependence.
4. purpose: value target, tradeoff, stakeholder balance, and QPI alignment.
5. core_mechanism: generative mechanism, system dynamics, and causal structure.
6. human_capability: cognitive, biological, organizational, or skill limits.
7. philosophical_bedrock: basic assumptions about reality, meaning, order, and agency.

Minimum Sufficient Depth

Do not automatically drill to the deepest layer.

Continue deeper only if it changes at least one of:

• judgment;
• solution path;
• evidence requirement;
• risk weighting;
• action boundary;
• reusable model asset decision.

Call When

• QPI classifies the input as a medium/heavy problem or issue.
• A surface explanation keeps failing.
• The issue has high reuse value.
• The owner wants to extract a model from source material.
• The problem needs hidden assumptions made explicit.
• A model or product logic needs depth inspection.

Do Not Call When

• The input is a fact lookup.
• The user needs a short execution answer.
• There is not enough source material to distinguish mechanism from speculation.
• Deeper analysis will not change judgment or action.
• The user explicitly asks not to enter depth processing.

Input Types

• complex issue;
• recurring failure;
• cognitive model draft;
• source article or report for model extraction;
• strategic, product, or organizational reasoning problem;
• hidden-assumption audit.

Output Contract

Intellectual Archaeology output must include:

• should_call;
• entry_reason;
• recommended_max_depth;
• layers_to_analyze;
• analysis_by_layer;
• stop_reason;
• no_deeper_reason;
• assumptions_by_layer;
• core_mechanism_summary;
• validation_needed;
• action_implication;
• reader_translation_notes.

Common Misuses

• Using the model as a long summary.
• Forcing every issue to the philosophical layer.
• Producing abstract depth without changing action.
• Ignoring QPI and value-assessment controls.
• Treating internal coherence as real-world validity.
• Forgetting reader translation.

Source Seed Notes

Seeded from the old Intellectual Archaeology model/card and the seven-layer example report, rewritten for this runtime. Old regression suites, selector gates, review reports, and Local CCRA histories are not migrated.

Current Limits

This model is callable for manual runtime use, but its depth stops and layer quality require real-run calibration before any upgrade.