What is Reality Drift?

Reality Drift describes the gradual misalignment that emerges when systems continue functioning at the level of representation while losing contact with the realities they were meant to track.

What is Synthetic Realness?

Synthetic Realness names the production of signals that feel authentic or grounded while being shaped by optimization, mediation, and performance logic.

What is Filter Fatigue?

Filter Fatigue is the exhaustion that results from navigating environments defined by constant curation, sorting, and signal overload.

What is the Optimization Trap?

The Optimization Trap occurs when a system begins optimizing the metric or proxy rather than the underlying thing it was meant to preserve.

What is Semantic Fidelity?

Semantic Fidelity refers to how well meaning is preserved as language and information move across contexts and transformations.

A decision tree diagram with branching boxes and lines, symbolizing procedural logic and compressed decision systems.

Recursive Compression (Canonical Definition)

January 15, 2024

Recursive Compression is the structural process by which systems reduce complexity into simplified representations and then reuse those representations over time. Through repeated cycles of compression, storage, reuse, and iteration, systems become more efficient while increasingly operating on models of reality rather than reality itself. When fidelity is preserved, recursive compression enables intelligence, coordination, and scale. When fidelity degrades, the same process creates the conditions for drift.

Download: Recursive Compression Canonical Definition (PDF)