Plausible Fiction (PF)

A Plausible Fiction is a story designed to come true.

It follows four rules and is operated by one mechanism:

Rules:

  1. Starts with the world as it is today, with minimal distortion.
  2. Ends in a good future — one the author believes is worth reaching.
  3. Is plausible throughout — consistent with physical, social, and causal constraints.
  4. Is compelling — memetically fit to attract collaborators.

Mechanism:

If you find someone's PF compelling, you can collaborate by:

Gap Calling — identifying a missing intervention needed for fulfillment.
Elaborating — fleshing out a gap with more plausible fiction.
Action Taking — doing something in the real world to fill a gap.

PF Vocabulary

PF Term Meaning in PF Insight Anchor
Gap A missing intervention that must occur for the PF to advance. Neuroscience: punctuated state transition where the attractor landscape must be reshaped. Control theory: a required state change that current dynamics won't reach unaided.
Fulfillment When a gap or the entire PF has come true — all required interventions for that scope have been completed. Systems view: state change meets intended target, altering attractor structure toward the desired outcome.
Gap Calling Naming or specifying a gap so others can address it. Neuroscience: sharp wave–ripple (SWR) replay highlights critical intervention points in simulated trajectories.
Elaborating Supplying new plausible detail that makes a gap feel feasible. Neuroscience: hippocampal-prefrontal coordination increasing trajectory plausibility.
Attention Active cognitive and collaborative focus on a PF or gap. Neuroscience: prefrontal modulation guiding replay toward goal-relevant routes.
Current A gap that has a lot of attention at the moment. Electrical analogy: flow of collaborative energy toward fulfillment.
Attractive A gap whose collaborative pull and salience are increasing. Effective conductance: potential difference is rising, increasing probability of fulfillment.
Charged A gap that holds stored potential for change if acted upon. Effective conductance: potential difference ready to be discharged as current.
Nudge A small intervention to adjust the system's trajectory toward fulfillment. Control theory: low-gain biasing term altering state evolution without breaking plausibility.
Fulcrum A leverage point where a small, well-placed action has large effects. Neuroscience: synaptic weight adjustments redirecting future trajectory planning.
Repair Restoring a condition so the PF can continue toward its good future. Neuroscience: stabilizing connections so desired trajectories remain feasible.
Funding Required Resource need blocking fulfillment of a gap. Control theory: actuator saturation — can't apply needed control without resources.
Protagonist Someone who acts on a gap without waiting for permission or payment. Neuroscience: intrinsic motivation circuits override reward-prediction error, enabling action despite uncertain outcomes.
Substrate The minimal recording layer where PFs and their fulfillments become visible to potential collaborators. Systems theory: the memory that allows the system to build on its own outputs rather than dissipating progress.