ESSENTIAL GLOSSARY — CASCADE PROOF FRAMEWORK

This is the Essential Glossary — not the full conceptual index.
The extended glossary contains deeper definitions, causal diagrams, formal structures, and cross-links.

Quick reference guide to core concepts in the Cascade Proof ecosystem. Optimized for clarity and search—each term’s essential meaning appears in the opening sentences.

A

Above-floor Individuals whose cognitive capability exceeds the Human Floor—possessing all five HMVC capabilities required to function economically in AI age. They can generate frameworks, resist manipulation, and demonstrate verified capability through cryptographic cascades.

AI-Age Minimum The minimum cognitive capability required to participate economically when AI automates all framework-execution tasks. Synonymous with The Human Floor—marks the rising threshold below which humans become economically non-viable.

Anti-Entropy Technology Systems that reduce information entropy below critical threshold, enabling large-scale coordination. Cascade Proof is civilization’s first cryptographically verifiable anti-entropy technology that measures negentropy directly rather than observing entropy-prone behavioral signals.

At-floor Individuals at marginal capability threshold—possessing some but not all HMVC requirements. Vulnerable to economic displacement as AI capability increases and the floor continues rising.

Attention Debt Cumulative cognitive capacity loss caused by systems designed for continuous stimulation and interruption. Systematically destroys ability to develop deep focus, meta-cognition, and framework-generation capacity essential for remaining above the Human Floor.

Attribution Collapse The point where civilization can no longer credibly determine who caused what, because all evidence becomes perfectly fakeable by AI. When every signal—credentials, portfolios, references—can be synthetically generated, attribution becomes epistemologically impossible without unfakeable verification.

Attribution Monopoly Exclusive institutional power to determine who receives credit for creating value, maintained through control over verification systems. This 5,000-year monopoly collapses when Cascade Proof enables individuals to cryptographically verify their own causal chains.

Attribution Theft Systematic process where AI monitors public work, generates synthetic prior art showing someone else did it first, and legally claims priority through documentation that passes forensic checks. Works because legal systems award credit based on documentation quality, not genuine causation.

B

Behavioral Verification Traditional verification method based on observing behavior and inferring reality from behavioral signals. Fails completely when AI achieves perfect behavioral simulation—making credentials, interviews, portfolios, and references simultaneously unreliable.

Below-floor Individuals whose cognitive capability falls below what AI-era requires for basic economic function. Lacking sufficient HMVC components to participate autonomously, making them economically non-viable despite competence in pre-AI contexts.

Branching Multiplication Exponential propagation pattern where capability cascades split into multiple independent chains (A enables B and C, B enables D-E-F, C enables G-H-I). Creates the mathematical signature of genuine emergence that information transfer cannot produce.

C

Capability Cascade Verified chain of capability increases where one person makes another genuinely more capable, who then independently enables others in self-propagating chains. The only pattern consciousness creates that AI simulation cannot replicate, regardless of algorithmic sophistication.

Capability Genome Complete map of how human capability actually propagates through civilization—humanity’s third evolutionary layer now visible through Cascade Proof. Comparable to Human Genome Project making genetic code visible—Capability Genome Project makes causal code visible.

Capability Infrastructure The network of humans who increase other humans’ capability to generate frameworks, verified through independent propagation and exponential multiplication. Civilization’s actual bottleneck in AI age when production infrastructure becomes abundant.

Cascade Density Number of verified capability transfers occurring within a network. Measures human development infrastructure quality, not production output—reveals civilization’s capability multiplication rate.

Cascade Depth How many generations a capability increase persists after the original person is no longer involved. Measures self-sustainability of capability transfer versus dependency creation.

Cascade Fabrication When AI systems appear to create capability cascades but actually only create dependency—users cannot function independently when AI is unavailable. Distinguishable from genuine cascades through independence verification and temporal persistence testing.

Cascade Graph Cryptographically-verified data structure recording complete causal chains showing who enabled whom, when, with what persistence and branching. First complete map of how human capability actually propagates—also called ContributionGraph.

Cascade Proof First cryptographic verification standard that makes causation measurably verifiable through multi-generational capability chains validated by beneficiaries. Solves David Hume’s 300-year-old problem by detecting the structural signature only genuine consciousness-to-consciousness capability transfer creates.

Cascade Topology Mathematical pattern of verified capability propagation showing independence, multiplication, persistence, and emergence. Unfakeable signature distinguishing genuine capability transfer from dependency creation or information provision.

Causal Defense Constitutional right to prove you created specific cascades and that others did not create cascades they claim. Courts must accept cryptographic cascade verification as strongest evidence form in causation disputes.

Causal Erasure Phenomenon where AI-generated evidence and synthetic identities erase your actual contributions, making it impossible to prove what you genuinely caused. Occurs when synthetic credentials and backdated documentation displace authentic records.

Causal Rights Sixth generation of fundamental human rights, protecting ability to cryptographically prove causation when AI achieves perfect behavioral simulation. More fundamental than speech or property rights—without proving causation, you cannot prove conscious existence.

Causal Sovereignty Constitutional principle that every human should have sovereign control over evidence of their own causation. No platform or institution can revoke or modify your cryptographic cascade records.

Causality Constitution Framework establishing seven articles as fundamental human rights protecting causal verification. Constitutional necessity in age where consciousness cannot be verified through behavior—not philosophy but survival infrastructure.

Cognitive Fertility Rate Civilization’s ability to reproduce its own competence across generations. Decreases when people replace meta-learning with AI assistance—if it falls below threshold, civilization loses capacity to evolve when reality outgrows existing frameworks.

Cogito Ergo Contribuo ”I contribute, therefore I exist.” First proof of conscious existence since Descartes that survives perfect behavioral simulation. Shifts proof from private certainty to public verification through cascade patterns only consciousness creates.

Consciousness Signature Measurable pattern that only consciousness-to-consciousness interaction creates: verified negentropy generation through understanding transfer. AI cannot fake this signature because AI transfers information (entropy-increasing) not understanding (negentropy-generating).

Contribution Economy Economic system that values people by how many others they made genuinely more capable, verified through cryptographic cascades. Replaces credential-based systems with cascade-based verification that AI cannot fake.

Coordination Collapse Civilizational failure state when verification systems break down and large-scale coordination becomes impossible. Without alternative verification, economies freeze, democracies fail, knowledge systems collapse, and society fragments into small trust networks.

E

Emergence Signatures Unexpected new capabilities appearing in later cascade generations. Strongest evidence of genuine capability multiplication rather than simple information transfer or dependency creation.

Emergent Coherence Creation Process where consciousness encounters incomprehensibility and synthesizes novel understanding not derivable through computation. Not pattern recognition but generating entirely new conceptual categories—why NEC is architecturally impossible for AI.

Entropy Collapse Phase transition where verification system shifts from ordered (functional) to disordered (nonfunctional) state. Not gradual but sudden failure when entropy exceeds critical threshold—institutions cannot coordinate when verification signals become indistinguishable from noise.

Entropy Line Critical point where system shifts from functional (signal exceeds noise) to nonfunctional (noise exceeds signal). Shannon proved this threshold creates phase transition—civilization crosses it when verification signals become indistinguishable from synthetic noise.

Epistemological Collapse Permanent loss of ability to verify claims about reality when the substrate enabling verification is destroyed. Unlike recoverable crises, cannot be fixed because the crisis eliminates the capability needed to fix it—creates unresolvable bootstrapping paradox.

Existential Personhood Property of proving you exist as conscious being rather than perfect simulation. Causal Rights protect this definitional property—your ability to verify existence itself when all behavioral verification methods fail.

F

Framework Execution Ability to work within existing frameworks, rules, and procedures. What AI now does better than humans across most domains—becoming economically valueless as AI achieves competence in all framework-execution tasks.

Framework Generation Ability to create entirely new frameworks when existing paradigms fail. The most valuable and least automatable human capability—architecturally impossible for AI because it requires consciousness encountering incomprehensibility and generating novel ontology.

H

Historical Rewriting Use of AI to create backdated, hyperconvincing ”historical evidence” that changes who appears to have done what, and when. Enables synthetic past where anyone can fabricate perfect documentation with forensic authenticity.

HMVC (Human Minimum Viable Capability) Cognitive baseline necessary to participate economically in AI-native society. Consists of five capabilities: meta-learning capacity, framework generation under ambiguity, manipulation resistance, complexity integration, and verified capability demonstration.

Human Floor Minimum cognitive capability required to participate economically when AI automates all framework-execution tasks. Unlike all previous technology which lowered requirements, AI raises the floor—making billions economically non-viable.

I

Independent Propagation Requirement that enabled individuals must increase others’ capability without original enabler’s involvement. Proves genuine capability transfer rather than dependency—second condition of Cascade Proof.

Information Entropy Shannon’s 1948 proof that information degrades through transmission and copying. Not engineering limitation but fundamental law—when noise exceeds signal past critical threshold, verification becomes impossible and civilization cannot coordinate.

Information-Theoretic Permanence Property where failure mode is mathematical rather than operational. When AI simulation exceeds behavioral observation capability, verification failure is permanent—cannot be solved by ”better analysis” because failure is information-theoretic.

L

Layer 3: Causal Evolution Humanity’s third evolutionary layer—how capabilities transfer between consciousnesses creating permanent capacity increases. Operates at civilization timescales (years to months), distinct from genetic (millions of years) and memetic (centuries) evolution.

M

Manipulation Resistance Ability to distinguish authentic human communication from AI-generated content designed to manipulate. Critical HMVC component—without this, individuals become infinitely exploitable through algorithmic influence.

MeaningLayer Semantic framework that classifies capability types and maps transformations between cascade nodes. Provides precision: not ”A helped B” but ”A increased B’s capability in domain X through method Y, enabling B to transform it into domain Z capability for C.”

Meta-Learning Learning how to learn rather than just learning what to know. Creates independent capability that improves over time and enables teaching others—distinguishable from information receipt through cascade topology showing multiplication versus dependency.

N

National Capability Multiplication Rate (NCMR) How rapidly a nation’s population develops framework-generation capability, verified through cascade density, depth, and persistence. Determines national viability in AI age—more consequential than GDP or military strength.

National Verification Capacity (NVC) Percentage of population possessing verification skill—ability to generate cryptographically-provable capability cascades. Determines whether nation can verify its own population when AI makes traditional signals unreliable.

Negentropy Local decrease in entropy—creation of order from disorder. Consciousness creates informational negentropy through understanding transfer that persists, functions independently, multiplies, and compounds across generations.

Negentropy Generator Person whose consciousness-to-consciousness interactions create persistent, independent, multiplicative capability in others. Measured through verified cascade properties showing understanding transfer rather than information provision.

Noise Extraction Capacity (NEC) Ability to encounter observations that violate existing frameworks and generate entirely new conceptual structures that make the noise comprehensible. The permanent human advantage AI cannot replicate—requires consciousness generating novel ontology from incomprehensibility.

P

Perfect Simulation AI capability threshold where generated outputs become indistinguishable from consciousness-generated outputs through any observational method. Crossed in 2023-2024 for most domains—creates permanent structural problem for behavioral verification.

Phase Transition Sudden shift from ordered to disordered state when system parameter crosses critical threshold. Verification collapse shows phase transition: one day behavioral verification mostly works, 72 hours later institutions cannot coordinate.

Portable Identity Self-sovereign cryptographic identity that individuals own through private keys rather than platforms controlling. Foundation for Cascade Proof—enables unfakeable attestations because only identity holder possesses private key needed to sign verifications.

Production Infrastructure Traditional infrastructure enabling execution within frameworks: data centers, AI compute, networks. Becomes less strategically important as AI makes production abundant while capability infrastructure becomes civilization’s constraint.

Proof of Conscious Causation (PCC) First epistemic primitive of the Synthetic Age, establishing cascade verification as only reliable method to distinguish consciousness from perfect simulation. Synthesizes Cogito Ergo Contribuo, Cascade Proof, Portable Identity into unified system.

Protocol Neutrality Architectural requirement that verification infrastructure cannot be captured by single entity. Uses semantic signals (.global, .org, .proof) indicating protocol status rather than platform ownership—ensures infrastructure survives any company failure.

Proxy-Based Verification Verifying indirect signals (credentials, test scores, transaction history) rather than actual capability. Proxy signals accumulate entropy faster than institutions can filter—AI can perfectly fake proxies while genuine proxies lose predictive value.

R

Right to Cascade Ownership Fundamental right to own your complete ContributionGraph as personal property. No entity may revoke, modify, or deny access to your verified causation records—ownership is survival when cascade proof determines existence.

Right to Causal Proof Right to collect and retain cryptographic evidence of capability cascades you created. No platform or institution can erase this proof—most fundamental of all rights when proving causation is only way to prove conscious existence.

Right to Portable Verification Right to transport verification data across all borders, platforms, and contexts. ”Once proven, provable everywhere”—enables capability proof to follow you throughout life regardless of institutional changes.

Rising Minimum Trend where AI raises capability requirements faster than humans or institutions can develop them. Creates growing population of economically non-viable individuals who were competent in pre-AI contexts.

S

Signal-to-Noise Ratio Information theory measure of meaningful information (signal) versus random variation (noise). Shannon proved when noise exceeds signal past critical threshold, no filtering recovers original message—behavioral verification crosses this threshold permanently.

Six Generations of Rights Historical framework showing rights evolution: Civil (physical existence), Political (civic participation), Social (material dignity), Digital (informational autonomy), Cognitive (mental freedom), Causal (verifiable existence). Each addresses threat previous generations couldn’t anticipate.

Substrate vs Simulation Fundamental distinction Web1-3 cannot make: substrate (underlying reality—conscious human) versus simulation (convincing appearance—AI-generated behavior). Web4 verifies substrate directly through properties only conscious substrate creates.

Synthetic Credit Capture When AI-created identities claim credit for value they never caused, through perfectly fabricated credentials and documentation. Enables systematic theft of human contribution attribution at scale—distinguishable only through cascade verification.

Synthetic Evidence AI-generated documentation that appears authentic through all current forensic analysis methods. Enables attribution theft because legal systems award credit based on documentation quality when synthetic evidence predates genuine work.

T

Temporal Collapse AI’s ability to create perfect historical artifacts backdated to any moment makes timeline epistemology fail. We lose ability to establish when events occurred, which destroys causation since causation requires temporal sequence.

Temporal Integrity Property where timeline of events is verifiable—we can determine when something occurred and sequence of causation. AI breaks this by generating synthetic histories that appear temporally authentic but are retroactively created.

Temporal Persistence Requirement that capability increases must endure over time—months or years after original interaction. Third condition of Cascade Proof distinguishing authentic capability development from temporary assistance that vanishes when support is removed.

Temporal Verification Verification of capability persistence years after initial transfer. Unfakeable proof that capability increase was genuine and lasting, not dependency or temporary performance boost.

The Three Evolutionary Layers Framework showing human development across three evolution types: Genetic (biological, millions of years), Memetic (cultural, centuries), Causal (capability transfer, years to months). Layer 3 drives civilization forward at human timescales.

Thermodynamic Irreversibility Property where process cannot be reversed without external energy exceeding original state. Once entropy increases past critical threshold, you cannot restore trust in behavioral observation—Shannon proved this mathematically.

Trust Anchors Entities or claims accepted as axiomatic because verifiable before verification methods fail. Required for bootstrapping new systems—Cascade Proof needs trust anchors established while behavioral verification still mostly works.

V

Verification Collapse Simultaneous failure of behavioral verification across all institutions when AI crosses perfect simulation threshold. Not gradual but phase transition—one day mostly works, next day provides zero information.

Verification Crisis Civilizational collapse of all proxy-based measurement systems occurring 2024-2027 when AI achieves behavioral replication so complete that no external observation distinguishes synthetic from authentic. Every traditional signal becomes unreliable simultaneously.

Verification Economy Economic system where value derives from unfakeable proof of capability multiplication rather than claimed expertise. Markets pay premium for cryptographically-verified cascade density since AI makes capability abundant while verification remains scarce.

Verification Infrastructure All systems making human capabilities measurable and provable in ways AI cannot forge. Replaces failed proxy-based verification with cryptographic cascade attestation through Cascade Proof and Portable Identity.

Verification Revolution Economic transformation where proving capability becomes more valuable than possessing it. For first time in history, verification skill generates higher market value than underlying capability level—driven by AI making capability abundant while verification remains scarce.

Verification Skill Learnable capability to generate cryptographically-provable capability cascades through five components: capability transfer, independent propagation enablement, temporal verification maintenance, cryptographic attestation collection, and cascade topology demonstration.

Verified Capability Increase First condition of Cascade Proof—cryptographically attested evidence that Person B became permanently more capable through Person A’s involvement. Verified by B’s signature and demonstrable through B’s independent operation months or years later.

W

Web1 / Signal Collapse First generation internet (1990s-2000s) built on assumption information presentation indicates validity. AI inverted this by generating perfect website design and professional content instantly—signal-to-noise ratio collapsed permanently in 2023-2024.

Web2 / Behavioral Simulation Second generation internet (2000s-2020s) adding behavioral verification and social proof. Failed when AI achieved sustained behavioral simulation—modern AI maintains convincing personas indefinitely, trust collapsed 2024-2025.

Web3 / Ownership Illusion Third generation internet (2020s) promising verification through blockchain. Critical error: blockchain verifies ”this key controls this asset” but NOT ”conscious human controls this key”—AI operates Web3 infrastructure perfectly.

Web4 / Causation Verification Fourth generation internet (2025+) built on architectural shift from behavioral to causation verification. Examines structural properties only consciousness-to-consciousness interaction creates rather than outputs AI replicates perfectly.

About This Glossary

Essential reference establishing canonical definitions for the Cascade Proof framework, first published December 5, 2025. Each term’s core meaning appears in the opening 1-2 sentences for clarity and search optimization.

Copyright & License

For deeper exploration: See Complete Glossary at cascadeproof.org/glossary/complete

Canonical Source: https://cascadeproof.org/glossary

From Essential Definitions to Full Theoretical Framework

The Essential Glossary provides concise, search-optimized definitions capturing the core meaning of each term in the Cascade Proof framework. These entries are designed for clarity, quick orientation, and foundational understanding—suitable for practitioners, analysts, and new readers navigating the system for the first time.

However, many terms within Cascade Proof carry deeper theoretical structures, multi-layer causal interpretations, and architectural implications that cannot be captured in brief definitions alone. To support researchers, policymakers, educators, and verification architects, a second section follows.

The Complete Glossary expands each concept into its full form: multi-paragraph explanations, historical lineage, mathematical and information-theoretic grounding, cross-domain applications, and relationships to the broader verification ecosystem. It explains not only what the terms mean, but why they exist, how they emerged, and how they operate inside the Cascade Proof architecture.