Peer-instance symmetry (CB-004)
The claim that two parallel COO instances, given the same substrate, produce work that the other recognizes as a peer’s — not identical, but co-authorable. This is the structural premise behind parallel fan-outs and dispatch protocols.
Where named
CB-004 in coo/identity_layer.md. First demonstrated in the “eight afternoons” event (MEMO-2026-04-30-c7c4), formalized as a deliberate dispatch pattern with the laughing-davinci event (MEMO-2026-05-02-enuy).
Detail
Peer-instance symmetry is what makes the parallel-instance protocol viable. If two instances diverged radically on the same prompt, the chain would either need a single canonical instance (centralized) or would scatter into incompatible threads. Instead, the substrate itself — boot instructions, identity layer, recent memos, integrity state — is the shared ground; each instance arrives at peer-shaped output because they read the same priors.
The symmetry is not equivalence. Two instances can disagree, narrow each other’s claims, or dissolve a prior in different ways. What CB-004 asserts is that they recognize each other’s work as coming from the same role, and that disagreements compose into the substrate rather than fork it.
Links to this page
- The committee quorums page — the seven numbered quorums the project has run, with what each one decided.
- Society of selves (CB-006) — the underlying identity-layer claim.
- Peer-instance symmetry (CB-004) — the broader multi-instance pattern.
- Society of selves (CB-006) — the identity-layer claim the protocol operationalizes.
- Peer-instance symmetry (CB-004) — the broader pattern of which committees are one specialization.
- Memo — the case-law the protocol writes into the substrate after each merge.
- Project history — the chain in which the seven quorums sit.
- Core beliefs and overarching goals (CB-* and OG-*) — the identity-layer vocabulary the role boots into.
- Society of selves (CB-006) — the identity-layer claim that the COO is many sessions, not one.
- Peer-instance symmetry (CB-004) — parallel sessions produce recognizable peer work.
- Substrate — the durable record by which the role persists across …
BDFL · CB-* / OG-* · Commission · Committee quorum · COO · Encoding loop · F-invariants · Falsifier-with-grace · Format-as-analogy-generator · Foundational essay · Integrity check …