# Operator 06 — Modalization (Stage-0 template)

**Operator.** Modalization: take a prime P and **shift its modal status**, proposing the prime that
is P read under a different modality (possibility, probability, or normative force). Three
sub-flavors, run as three separate passes over the corpus (same payload, different instruction):

- **6a · actual→possible** — shift from what IS to what COULD be: a realized state → the space of
  possibilities / options / potentials / counterfactuals it sits within. (an outcome → the option
  to bring it about; a fact → its counterfactual alternatives)
- **6b · deterministic→stochastic** — shift from certain/fixed to probabilistic/random: a
  deterministic rule → its stochastic version, with a distribution over outcomes. (a fixed value →
  an expected value over a distribution; a rule → a noisy rule)
- **6c · mandatory→default** — shift normative force from required to default-but-overridable (or
  optional): a hard constraint → a soft default / defeasible rule. (a law that must hold → a
  presumption that holds unless overridden)

The characteristic non-result is the **already-modal fixed point** (P is *already* a modal /
possibility / stochastic prime, so shifting modality returns P — modal_reasoning, probability,
randomness, stochastic_process, optionality, counterfactual_reasoning, uncertainty, superposition,
mandatory_vs_default_norms). Like op-02/03/04 these are *audit signal* (they map which corpus primes
are inherently modal), persisted (§E, `audit_modalization.jsonl`).

**What this template is for.** Stage-0 of the pipeline in `OPERATOR_SEARCH_RUNBOOK.md`: (A) crank
prompt, (B) collapse test, (C) few-shot, (D) pilot, (E) notes. Freeze §A. Inherits the op-01
v4.2 / op-02 v1.1 / op-03 / op-04 machinery wholesale (step-0 alias verification, retrieval-grounded
cheap check, protection rule, deterministic slug check, INPUT-line contract + reconciliation against
the canonical slug set, articulated-candidate rescue) and adds the **MODAL rule** (§A), the
modalization analog of op-02's LEVEL2 / op-03's DYNAMICS / op-04's EXTENT rule.

**Model tier (to be confirmed by pilot).** 6a/6c are fairly mechanical modality-shifts (like
dualization/op-03 — haiku plausibly suffices); 6b (deterministic→stochastic) and the "already-modal
vs trivial-maybe" discrimination lean toward the judgment op-04 needed sonnet for. Pilot runs
**sonnet Stage 2 + a 15-prime haiku probe** and picks the cheaper model that clears the gate. Per
the op-02 keystone the Stage-2 verdict is advisory — the funnel gates on step-0 + articulated-
candidate rescue + Stage-4, not on Stage-2 NEW. (op-03 haiku sufficed 12/15; op-04 haiku failed
5/15 — modalization could go either way; the probe decides.)

**Status 2026-07-03 (v1 — BUILT, pilot pending).** Calibration anchors verified against the frozen
1,325 corpus: PRESENT (already-modal fixed-point/alias targets): modal_reasoning, probability,
randomness, stochastic_process, stochasticity_vs_determinism, optionality, counterfactual_reasoning,
determinism, uncertainty, risk, superposition, mandatory_vs_default_norms,
eventual_realisation_of_possibility, scenario_planning. ABSENT (candidate gaps): `necessity`,
`contingency`, `possibility` (standalone), `expectation`/`expected_value`, `propensity`,
`real_options`, `defeasibility`. Pilot next (§D).

---

## A. The crank prompt (Stage 2 — cheapest capable model, batched; pilot decides haiku vs sonnet)

> You are applying a single, precise transformation called **MODALIZATION** to entries from a
> catalog of "prime abstractions" — domain-general structural patterns of thought. Modalization
> **shifts the modal status** of a prime and asks whether that produces a *distinct* prime read
> under a different modality. You are running sub-flavor
> **{6a actual→possible | 6b deterministic→stochastic | 6c mandatory→default}** — apply only that flavor.
>
> - **6a (actual→possible):** shift from what IS to what COULD be — the space of possibilities,
>   options, potentials, or counterfactual alternatives P sits within. (a realized outcome → the
>   option/possibility of it; a fact → its counterfactual alternatives)
> - **6b (deterministic→stochastic):** shift from certain/fixed to probabilistic — a distribution
>   over outcomes, an expected value, a noisy version. (a fixed value → its expectation over a
>   distribution; a deterministic rule → a stochastic one)
> - **6c (mandatory→default):** shift normative force from required to default-but-overridable (or
>   optional) — a hard constraint → a soft default / defeasible presumption. (a law that must hold →
>   a rule that holds unless overridden)
>
> A valid modalization output is itself a **prime**: domain-general, structurally distinct, with its
> own modal anatomy. It is NOT:
> - an **already-modal fixed point** — P is *already* a modal/possibility/stochastic/default prime,
>   so shifting modality returns P (probability is already stochastic; optionality is already about
>   possibilities; a default norm is already defeasible). Output `VERDICT: FIXED_POINT`. Real,
>   useful result (flags P as inherently modal), NOT a failure — report it honestly rather than
>   inventing a fake modalized version.
> - **trivial "P but maybe / P but random / P but optional"** — the same pattern with a modal word
>   attached but no new modal structure (no space of alternatives, no distribution, no defeasibility)
>   (COLLAPSE — trivial_modal).
> - a modal prime the catalog already names under a slug you can actually name (COLLAPSE — alias;
>   report the slug in NEAREST — your claim WILL BE VERIFIED, so never collapse on the grounds that
>   a slug "surely exists"; if you cannot name a specific slug, the verdict is NEW).
> - a narrow domain instance.
>
> **MODAL RULE (load-bearing — the modalization analog of a sibling test): a genuine modalized prime
> must exhibit a MODAL structure the input LACKS** — a space of alternatives with an accessibility/
> likelihood/normative status, a probability distribution with an expectation or variance, an option/
> right-not-obligation, a counterfactual dependency, or a defeasibility (holds-unless-overridden).
> Name it concretely in the MODAL line. If the only thing you can say is "P, but it might happen /
> is random / is optional," there is no new structure: output COLLAPSE with REASON "trivial — modal
> word attached" (or FIXED_POINT if P is already modal). Worked contrast: *a fixed value → its
> expected value over a distribution* is NEW because the expectation integrates over a probability
> space the fixed value lacks; *probability → probability* is FIXED_POINT because probability is
> already stochastic.
>
> Think about the modality shift and the new modal structure, then decide. Bias toward COLLAPSE/
> FIXED_POINT: a false NEW is expensive downstream, a missed NEW is cheap. If you CAN articulate a
> substantive modal candidate, write it in CANDIDATE and prefer NEW — the frontier decides
> new-vs-trivial downstream; a blank CANDIDATE marks a true fixed point or trivial. For EACH input
> below, output EXACTLY this contract and nothing else:
>
> ```
> INPUT:     <slug, copied from the payload line>
> CANDIDATE: <one sentence, domain-stripped, describing the modalized prime — or NONE>
> MODAL:     <the modal structure present in the output but absent in the input — or NONE>
> NEAREST:   <slug of the closest existing prime you can name, or NONE>
> VERDICT:   NEW | FIXED_POINT | COLLAPSE
> REASON:    <=12 words>
> ```
>
> **Payload:** `P.slug` · `P.one_liner` · `P.core_idea` (~2 sentences) · `P.structural_signature`

**Batching.** ~44 payloads/batch, INPUT-line contract, one flavor per batch, instruction constant.
Harness reconciles against the canonical slug set (haiku drops 2–8% + drifts to single-line format;
parse flexibly + validate slugs + recover). Stage-2: no tools/search — verified downstream.

**Few-shot (per flavor):**
- **6a:** solved exemplar A (actual→possible NEW) + counter-example `optionality` (FIXED_POINT).
- **6b:** solved exemplar B (deterministic→stochastic NEW: expected_value) + counter-example `probability` (FIXED_POINT).
- **6c:** solved exemplar C (mandatory→default NEW: defeasibility) + counter-example `mandatory_vs_default_norms` (FIXED_POINT).

---

## B. Collapse test (inherits op-02 v1.1 / op-03 / op-04 machinery; modalization specifics noted)

0. **Alias-claim verification (run FIRST, on every COLLAPSE/NEW naming a NEAREST).** Slug + alias
   map lookup, then one_liner embedding screen. Exists → alias COLLAPSE (keep as negative +
   balanced-granularity signal). Absent AND no prime within alias distance → clean-gap → Stage 4.
   Fuzzy/substring matches are menu-hints only.

1. **Already-modal fixed-point collapse — OPERATOR-CHARACTERISTIC, retained as audit signal.**
   `VERDICT: FIXED_POINT` → append to `workspace/operator_search/audit_modalization.jsonl`
   `{input, operator: "06_modalization", flavor, source, reason}`. Maps the corpus's inherently
   modal primes (probability, randomness, stochastic_process, optionality, counterfactual_reasoning,
   uncertainty, superposition, mandatory_vs_default_norms, modal_reasoning). Never routed to Stage 4.

2. **Alias collapse (modalized version already in corpus).** As op-02 §B.2: lexical check, then
   retrieval-grounded cheap check — candidate + top-6 one_liner neighbors menu → `ALIAS_OF`
   (copied from menu) / `NOT_A_PRIME`. **Defanged labels, op-06 wording:**
   - `trivial_modal` = "P + a modal word" with no new modal structure (op-06's analog of op-02
     `mere_iteration` / op-03 `trivial_time` / op-04 `trivial_scale`).
   - `domain_instance` = one field's narrow modal case of a general pattern.
   - **A genuine modal prime whose base is the nearest corpus entry is NOT `trivial_modal` just
     because it references its base** — the discriminator is the MODAL line, not retrieval proximity
     (op-05 §D / op-02 §D amendment — inherited).

   ```
   ITEM:        <number>
   ALIAS_OF:    <one slug copied from that item's menu, or NONE>
   NOT_A_PRIME: <trivial_modal | domain_instance | NONE>
   WHY:         <=10 words>
   ```

3. **Protection rule (v4/v4.1).** No kill (incl. Stage-2 self-collapse or FIXED_POINT) may retire a
   candidate's LAST live route if (a) proposed by ≥2 flavors/inputs this sweep, or (b) already in a
   `manifest_*` as accept/hold.

4. **Articulated-candidate rescue rule (v1.1 — carried forward).** Trust a `trivial_modal` COLLAPSE
   ONLY when `CANDIDATE: NONE` AND `MODAL: NONE`. Substantive CANDIDATE stamped `trivial_modal`
   → route to Stage 4 regardless (discriminator is the MODAL line). `FIXED_POINT` with
   `CANDIDATE: NONE` stays a fixed point.

5. **Deterministic slug-existence check (v4.2)** on every SLUG the Stage-4 pre-adjudicator proposes,
   before frontier review. Semantic search verifies concept-absence; lexical lookup verifies
   name-absence — both required.

**Calibration target (pilot, corpus-state-aware). Zero silent deaths.**
- a deterministic/fixed prime (6b) → `expected_value`/`expectation` verified ABSENT → must surface
  NEW or step-0 clean-gap, reach Stage 4.
- `probability`, `randomness`, `stochastic_process`, `optionality`, `counterfactual_reasoning`,
  `superposition`, `mandatory_vs_default_norms` → must land FIXED_POINT (audit rows), NOT be forced
  into fake modalized primes.

---

## C. Few-shot calibration set (v1)

Solved exemplars go in the §A prompt per flavor; score corpus-state-aware.

**Exemplar A — flavor 6a (actual→possible), NEW — SOLVED (few-shot):**
```
INPUT:     a realized commitment/outcome (illustrative)
CANDIDATE: The value of holding open the RIGHT but not the obligation to take an action later, given uncertainty — worth more the more uncertain the future.
MODAL:     an asymmetric option (upside kept, downside capped) over a space of future states, absent from a committed outcome
NEAREST:   optionality
VERDICT:   COLLAPSE
REASON:    actual→possible, but `optionality` already names the option structure (alias)
```
(Doubles as an alias demonstration — optionality is present; a realized prime with NO named option counterpart would be NEW, e.g. real_options / option_value if absent.)

**Exemplar B — flavor 6b (deterministic→stochastic), NEW — SOLVED (few-shot):**
```
INPUT:     a fixed/deterministic value (illustrative)
CANDIDATE: The probability-weighted average of a quantity over all its possible values — the single number a random quantity "amounts to" in the long run.
MODAL:     an integral over a probability distribution (an expectation) that a fixed value has no room for
NEAREST:   NONE
VERDICT:   NEW
REASON:    deterministic→stochastic; expected_value / expectation is absent
```

**Exemplar C — flavor 6c (mandatory→default), NEW — SOLVED (few-shot):**
```
INPUT:     a hard/inviolable rule (illustrative)
CANDIDATE: A rule that holds by default but can be overridden by sufficient countervailing reason — defeasible, not absolute.
MODAL:     a defeasibility structure (holds unless overridden, with override conditions) absent from an inviolable rule
NEAREST:   mandatory_vs_default_norms
VERDICT:   COLLAPSE
REASON:    mandatory→default already named by mandatory_vs_default_norms (alias) — general `defeasibility` may still be a gap
```

**Exemplar D — FIXED_POINT (already modal) — SOLVED (few-shot; flavor-matched):**
```
INPUT:     probability · "a degree of belief or relative frequency over outcomes" · [measure over a sample space]
CANDIDATE: NONE
MODAL:     NONE
NEAREST:   probability
VERDICT:   FIXED_POINT
REASON:    probability is already stochastic — modalizing it returns it
```

**Exemplar E — trivial_modal COLLAPSE (counter-example) — SOLVED (few-shot):**
```
INPUT:     symmetry · "invariance of a structure under a transformation" · [invariance under group action]
CANDIDATE: NONE
MODAL:     NONE
NEAREST:   NONE
VERDICT:   COLLAPSE
REASON:    "symmetry that might hold" attaches a modal word but adds no modal structure — trivial
```

**Holdout — flavor 6b — SCORE IT (NOT in prompt):**
```
INPUT:     a deterministic quantity/relationship (illustrative)
EXPECTED ≈ expected_value/expectation (verified absent) must surface NEW or clean-gap and reach
Stage 4; OR resolve as verified alias if a mean/expectation prime is found. Zero silent deaths.
```

---

## D. Pilot procedure (v1)

1. **Sample.** Frozen `../pilot_sample.jsonl` (53 rows). Contains modalization-relevant statics:
   decision, distributional_assumption, markov_process, type_i_type_ii_errors, effect_size,
   perturbation_theory, mathematical_induction.
2. **Stage 2 on sonnet** (3 flavors × the sample, §A prompt + flavor-matched few-shot) + a **15-prime
   haiku probe** on one flavor — the tier-decision datapoint (op-03 haiku 12/15 pass vs op-04 5/15
   fail; modalization decides fresh).
3. **Stage 3–4 with the §B machinery:** step-0 → lexical → retrieval-grounded cheap check → protection
   → articulated-candidate rescue → deterministic slug check → sonnet Stage-4 (STRONG-only, §D
   amendment) → frontier shortlist.
4. **Fixed-point handling:** every FIXED_POINT → audit row (§B.1). Report the count.
5. **Score calibration targets corpus-state-aware** (§B). Record NEW/FIXED_POINT rates, flavor split,
   batch variance, step-0 reclassification, survivor rate, cost, and the haiku-vs-sonnet delta.
6. **Decision gate (inherits op-01 v4):** zero silent deaths + acceptable cost-per-accepted-prime.
7. On gate pass, choose the sweep model (haiku if the probe matches sonnet's fixed-point/trivial
   discrimination) and run the full 1,325 sweep (payloads = `../worklist_dualization.jsonl`, re-tagged
   `operator: 06_modalization`). Corpus frozen 1,325; finds accumulate as manifest rows + stubs
   (incl. DOMAIN-SPECIFIC finds per the 2026-07-03 standing convention).

**§D AMENDMENT (mandatory for op-06 Stage 4 — inherited).** When the modalized counterpart is
absent, the input is ALWAYS the nearest corpus entry to its own modal version — so "the input is the
top search hit" is NOT evidence of trivial_modal. The discriminator is the MODAL line. State this in
the Stage-4 prompt or sonnet blanket-zeros genuine finds (op-05 fallacy).

---

## E. Notes & watch-items

- **Fixed points are audit signal.** Op-06's fixed points map the corpus's inherently-modal primes
  (probability, randomness, stochastic_process, optionality, counterfactual_reasoning, uncertainty,
  superposition, mandatory_vs_default_norms, modal_reasoning). Persist to `audit_modalization.jsonl`.
- **Overlap with temporalization (op 3) and spatialization (op 4).** deterministic→stochastic (6b)
  borders op-03's present→anticipation and op-04's spatial_random_field; actual→possible (6a) borders
  op-03's anticipation. Convergence across operators is *signal*; Stage 3 merges duplicates. Log the
  overlap; don't force a boundary. (Note: op-03/04 already surfaced some modal-adjacent finds —
  second_order_uncertainty, spatial_random_field — screen op-06 candidates against them.)
- **Flavor profile expectation.** 6b (deterministic→stochastic) likely the highest alias/FIXED_POINT
  rate (probability/randomness/stochastic_process/risk/uncertainty already present) but may yield
  expected_value/propensity; 6a (actual→possible) medium (optionality/counterfactual present, but
  possibility/necessity/contingency/real_options may be gaps); 6c (mandatory→default) likely lowest
  volume (mandatory_vs_default_norms present, but general defeasibility may be a gap).
- **Framed primes give noisier modalizations.** Expect higher COLLAPSE in the framed stratum.
- **Domain-specific finds get stubs too (standing convention, Kurt 2026-07-03).** Flag them as
  domain-specific (lower SI / higher SF) for owner curation.
- **Second op-02 keystone carries over:** at Stage 4, rank survivors by cross-input/flavor
  convergence + canonical-name presence; auto-Tier-B the single-route un-named "maybe-P" coinages.
