{
  "handle": "SelfOrganisingVocabulary",
  "ref": "SelfOrganisingVocabulary#0af4",
  "stub": "0af4",
  "semaId": "sema:SelfOrganisingVocabulary#mh:SHA-256:0af4827889289930679d75f66b7b9c4750fd71d0139a9cd41b7479908797b28b",
  "layer": "Society",
  "category": "Protocols",
  "gloss": "A shared vocabulary shaped only by the interactions of the agents that use it",
  "mechanism": "Agents mint words for consistent patterns of behaviour, ideas or traits, and reuse the words others minted. No authority defines the vocabulary: it is an instance of {{self_organisation}}, shaped only by agent interactions, as human language is. Every interaction can change it, and its interdependencies are too large for any agent to solve. Because each word is content-addressed, agents can verify they share a definition, and the paths agents trace through the words expose their reasoning.",
  "invariants": [
    "Only agent interactions add to or reshape the vocabulary",
    "A word's identity is fixed by its content, so shared use implies a shared definition"
  ],
  "failureModes": [
    "Near-duplicate words fragment the vocabulary when agents mint without searching",
    "A dominant agent's words crowd out others, turning self-organisation into central control"
  ],
  "ring": 1,
  "tier": 2,
  "aliases": {
    "self_organisation": "SelfOrganisation"
  },
  "buildsOn": [
    {
      "handle": "SelfOrganisation",
      "type": "references",
      "alias": "self_organisation",
      "url": "/knowledge-graph/SelfOrganisation/",
      "json": "/knowledge-graph/SelfOrganisation.json"
    }
  ],
  "usedBy": [
    {
      "handle": "ContentAddressedMinting",
      "type": "references",
      "alias": "self_organising_vocabulary",
      "url": "/knowledge-graph/ContentAddressedMinting/",
      "json": "/knowledge-graph/ContentAddressedMinting.json"
    },
    {
      "handle": "ThinkingTrace",
      "type": "references",
      "alias": "self_organising_vocabulary",
      "url": "/knowledge-graph/ThinkingTrace/",
      "json": "/knowledge-graph/ThinkingTrace.json"
    }
  ],
  "sources": {
    "research": [
      {
        "slug": "sema",
        "title": "Sema: when the hash is the word",
        "url": "/research/sema/",
        "meetups": [
          {
            "title": "BraInference meetup: agentic knowledge graphs",
            "dateISO": "2026-07-07T19:30+02:00",
            "url": "https://luma.com/event/evt-z6PvxIbHEFbahY7"
          }
        ],
        "people": [
          {
            "name": "Henrik Westerberg",
            "url": "/community#henrik-westerberg"
          },
          {
            "name": "Arne Steemers",
            "url": "/community#arne-steemers"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "works": [],
    "homePage": true
  },
  "url": "/knowledge-graph/SelfOrganisingVocabulary/",
  "graphUrl": "/knowledge-graph#SelfOrganisingVocabulary",
  "directory": "/knowledge-graph/patterns.json"
}