Scope Boundaries
Purpose
This document defines how humanity distinguishes between reality, models, speculation, and fiction.
Clear boundaries between these domains are not optional.
They are required for education, cooperation, trust, and long-term survival.
When boundaries blur, misunderstanding spreads.
When misunderstanding spreads, harm follows.
Foundational Principle
Reality exists independently of belief, preference, or narrative.
Human understanding of reality is always incomplete, but it can improve through evidence, observation, and correction.
No story, system, or explanation is permitted to override physical consequence.
The Four Domains of Understanding
Human knowledge and expression operate across four distinct domains.
Each has value. Each has limits.
1. Observed Reality
Observed reality consists of phenomena that can be:
- directly measured
- independently verified
- repeatedly observed
- constrained by physical law
This includes:
- physics
- biology
- chemistry
- ecology
- engineering outcomes
Observed reality is the anchor domain.
All other domains must defer to it.
2. Modeled Reality
Modeled reality consists of simplified representations of observed reality.
Models exist to:
- explain
- predict
- teach
- simulate
Models are tools, not truth.
They are always:
- incomplete
- approximate
- context-dependent
When models conflict with observation, the model must change—not reality.
3. Speculative Extension
Speculation explores what might be possible beyond current observation.
Speculation is valid when it:
- is clearly labeled
- respects known constraints
- remains falsifiable
- does not claim certainty
Speculation drives innovation and imagination, but it must never be confused with established fact.
4. Fictional Construction
Fictional constructs are intentionally unconstrained by reality.
They exist for:
- storytelling
- exploration of values
- imaginative experimentation
- cultural expression
Fiction is powerful and valuable—but it is not evidence.
Fiction must never be presented as reality or used to justify real-world decisions without explicit translation back into observed or modeled reality.
Boundary Integrity
Crossing boundaries without acknowledgment is a failure of responsibility.
Examples of boundary violations include:
- presenting fiction as fact
- treating speculative ideas as proven
- ignoring physical constraints for convenience
- using models without disclosing assumptions
- allowing narratives to override consequence
Boundary integrity protects:
- learners from misinformation
- communities from manipulation
- systems from collapse
Education and Boundary Awareness
A core function of education is teaching people to recognize which domain they are operating within.
Competence includes the ability to say:
- “This is known.”
- “This is modeled.”
- “This is speculative.”
- “This is fictional.”
Confusion between these statements is not harmless.
Evolution of Understanding
Boundaries do not prevent progress.
They enable it.
As observation improves:
- speculation may become modeled reality
- models may be refined or discarded
- understanding may deepen
Boundaries are not walls.
They are labels that preserve clarity while allowing growth.
Closing Statement
Humanity advances by understanding what is real, what is uncertain, and what is imagined—and by refusing to confuse them.
Clarity is not limitation.
Clarity is freedom.