- is_a::[[Form Type]]
- has_status::[[Seed Stage]]
- in_domain::[[Deep Context Architecture]]
- in_precinct::[[Garden Precinct]]
Core question: “What do we believe is true about the world?”
An assertion about reality that isn’t self-evident. Others may disagree. Convictions ground values and principles but are themselves products of experience and reasoning. Near-immutable; a change in conviction represents a fundamental shift.
Structural Contract
A conviction form requires:
- The conviction — A clear assertion about how the world works. Not a preference (value) or a constraint (principle) — a claim about reality.
- Grounding — What experience, reasoning, or evidence supports this conviction.
- Implications — What values and principles follow from holding this conviction.
- Sources — Origin material or experiences the conviction emerged from.
- Relations — Connections to values it grounds and principles it enables.
Naming heuristic: declarative claim about reality. State the conviction, not the topic. “Values Precede Technical Decisions” not “Values-First Design Conviction.”
Typical Predicates
is_a::[[Conviction Form]]has_status::[[Seed Stage]] or [[Evergreen Stage]]in_domain::[[Domain Name]]grounds::[[Value]] — values this conviction supportsrelates_to::[[Principle Form]] — principles derived from this conviction
Exemplars
- [[Authentic Collaboration Requires Agency]] — grounded in decades of experience across groupware, SSL/TLS, self-sovereign identity, Bitcoin, and cooperative game design
- [[Values Precede Technical Decisions]] — values-to-design ordering tested across SSL/TLS, self-sovereign identity, deep context architecture, and Blockchain Commons
Category
Orientation form — establishes what matters and what we believe.
Sources
Definition from [[Deep Context as an Architecture for Captured Reasoning]], line 47.
Relations
- relates_to::[[Value Form]] — convictions ground values
- relates_to::[[Principle Form]] — principles derive from conviction-grounded values