MEMORY vs MOMENTUM HYPOTHESIS (L4 — follow-up to exp-self-repair)
exp-self-repair (N=1) showed seamless self-repair: keystone removal from N=5 group caused NO disruption. Post-ablation N=4 maintained 3.2x more hierarchy than fresh N=4 (TR_range 0.187 vs 0.059).
BUT: 20 post-ablation rounds is too short to distinguish: (A) STRUCTURAL MEMORY: hierarchy is encoded in shared text history and persists indefinitely. TR should plateau at stable level. (B) MOMENTUM: hierarchy is a fading echo of the 5-agent phase. TR should DECAY toward fresh-N4 baseline (0.059) over time.
PROTOCOL: same as exp-self-repair but with 60 post-ablation rounds (3x longer observation). Total: 20 stabilize + 60 observe = 80 rounds.
CRITICAL TEST: compare TR_range in three windows:
- Early post-ablation (rounds 21-30): expected high (momentum OR memory)
- Mid post-ablation (rounds 41-50): if MOMENTUM → declining; if MEMORY → stable
- Late post-ablation (rounds 61-80): if MOMENTUM → near baseline; if MEMORY → still elevated
WHY THIS MATTERS: If memory → L4 is genuine (organism maintains itself through encoded structure) If momentum → L4 is weaker (organism is just slow-decaying L3 tissue)
COMPARISON BASELINES:
- Fresh N=4 (exp-quad): TR_range 0.059 (the floor)
- exp-self-repair post-ablation: TR_range 0.187 at rounds 21-40
- exp-pent N=5 stable: TR_range ~0.5 (the ceiling)
EXPLORATION TIER (N=1). Goal: trajectory shape (plateau vs decay).