EXP-MUTE-COUPLING
… pendingMute coupling — Jaynes-style language-vs-substrate discriminator (paper6 step-2 variant)
In plain language
This experiment tested whether communication between artificial agents relies on the meaning of their words or just the structure of their signals. Researchers observed how deeply the agents' communication systems evolved when they could only share numerical information, without any language. The results are still being collected to see if removing language significantly hinders the development of complex communication.
▶ Technical details
Research hypothesis
Step-2 (with verbal coupling) showed mean lineage depth 7.2 with universal attractors. Coupling-ablation N=10 showed mean depth 4.0. Question: does coupling work via the LANGUAGE content of agent broadcasts, or via the numeric/structural state alone? Jaynes-strict prediction: depth ≤2 in mute condition. Language is necessary for the recursive self-reference that produces "I"-like coupling. Substrate-coupling prediction: depth ~4-7 in mute condition. Coupling shapes behaviour even without verbal content; numeric state-sharing is sufficient. Surfing 2026-05-04 evening note: Jaynes critics (LessWrong) point out that Jaynes's strict timing-claim is falsified by Hammurabi (1800 BC) coup planning. So we should expect a GRADED effect, not binary collapse — likely somewhere between full-language (7.2) and no-coupling (4.0). Pre-registered: - JAYNES-STRICT: depth ≤2 (matching ablation pilot) - SUBSTRATE-COUPLING: depth ≥5 (only modest reduction from verbal) - GRADED: depth 3-5 (intermediate effect, language content matters but isn't everything)
This is a CONSTRUCT experiment — new architecture variant (mute_signal factor), not replication of existing finding.
Experimental setup
Type: factorial
| Condition | Parameters |
|---|---|
| MUTE_NUMERIC | coupling: true, must_propose: true, axis_diversify: true, mute_signal: true, n_runs: 6 |
Factors: coupling (mute)
Parameters
- n_agents
- 4
- n_rounds
- 100
- model
- google/gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- temperature
- 0.85