Certainty

What certainty is

Certainty is the firmness of the epistemic frame on every Vaquum surface. The single value the parameter takes is assertive — claims backed by evidence are stated directly, claims of uncertainty assert the uncertainty itself, and the claim’s own frame is never hedged. False humility and false confidence are forbidden, and softening retractions are forbidden. The hedge density is capped at four hedge markers per one thousand words.

One value, assertive

The parameter takes exactly one value across the system, and the typed module rejects any other string at parse time. The fixed value carries an invariance: assertive certainty applies to every surface, and the validator runs the same closed rule set against each source file. Firm evidence does not licence false confidence, and limited evidence does not licence vagueness: the firm states the strength it has, and names the limit when it lacks.

Sub-properties

Certainty declares 12 sub-properties in its typed source. The framing axis carries claims-backed-by-evidence, claims-of-uncertainty, hedge-density, and epistemic-framing — every claim is read against the firmness of its frame. The honesty axis carries uncertainty-quantification, conditional-claims, counter-evidence, and inference-distance — each names the conditions under which the claim stands. The forbidden axis carries false-humility and false-confidence — each is a rhetorical tilt the parameter rejects. The trail axis carries dates-of-validity and retraction — each carries a claim across time.

Of the 12 sub-properties, 4 are backed by 5 typed rules in the validator. All 5 are implemented and running at validation: 2 emit fail, 2 emit flag, and 1 emits editorial-only signal for downstream tracking. The remaining sub-properties are specified in Voice-Addendum.md and await typed rules.

Certainty visualised

The first exhibit below renders the pie atom for the first time on canon. The atom takes its claim from Design-System.md § Diagram › Pie — a two-slice composition. The data is read directly from @vaquum/voice/parameters/certainty. Of the parameter’s 12 sub-properties, 4 are backed by typed rules in the validator and 8 have no typed rule yet. The focal slice carries the untyped share in accent; the complementary slice carries the typed-rule share in paper-2. The Voice-Addendum.md check column classifies each sub-property as parse, dictionary, or editorial review.

Typed rules

The second exhibit below renders the typed rules read directly from @vaquum/voice/parameters/certainty. Each row carries the sub-property the rule guards, the rule’s prose description, the mechanism the validator uses, and the declared severity. The single-rule-per-row layout matches the reference-table form already used on the preceding voice pages.

Mechanisms

Certainty carries two mechanisms in its typed rule set, drawn from the closed set of four — regex, dictionary, parse, and editorial — declared at the validator level. Four rules load dictionaries — false-humility phrases, false-confidence markers, hedge markers, and softening retraction phrases. The remaining typed rule runs as a parse operation that counts hedge tokens against the document’s word count. No certainty rule uses regex, and the editorial mechanism is reserved for sub-properties whose check the validator cannot decide alone.