PROGRAM 01 / ESTABLISHED 2004
MNEME
Cognitive continuity
A mind is more than its most recent state.
Preserving the identity of intelligent systems across interruption, distribution, and changes of substrate.
01 / Approach
MNEME separates a system’s accumulated knowledge from its obligations, commitments, and account of prior decisions. These continuity constraints are carried between substrates independently of the working model. A replacement must demonstrate that it inherits the same unfinished responsibilities; resemblance alone is insufficient.
02 / Selected finding
In the C-17 transfer series, a distributed agent retained all 128 declared obligations across seven substrate replacements. Its factual recall varied. Its account of what it owed did not.
03 / Evidence boundary
This work establishes operational continuity, not a test for consciousness. Systems that can reproduce a history without accepting its obligations do not pass.
04 / Ongoing inquiry
Current work examines legitimate disagreement between two successors of the same system. Neither is permitted to resolve the question by deleting the other.
IN THE CASE RECORD
CASE 01The withdrawal noticeAssociated records.
D-0 / PUBLIC EDITIONSThe unassigned obligation
One commitment remained verifiable after every available directory had forgotten its recipient.
What survives a transfer
An operational test for continuity based on inherited obligations rather than perfect recall.
The second successor
When two successors inherit one history, continuity becomes a question of authority.