Meaning Integrity
Meaning Integrity
Meaning integrity is the preservation of decision-relevant meaning as information moves through people, institutions, and automated systems.
What It Explains
The problem this framework makes visible.
Why systems can preserve data, process, and formal structure while losing the meaning required for trustworthy action.
System Mechanism
How the failure forms.
Information enters a system with operational significance.
Interpretation, authority, and context determine what the information means.
Meaning is transformed as the information crosses human, technical, and institutional boundaries.
The system continues acting on the transformed meaning.
Integrity fails when the preserved representation no longer governs the intended action.
Failure Signatures
What an observer would see.
Accurate data with degraded interpretation
Formal coherence without shared operational meaning
Continued action after governing conditions change
Symbolic preservation of context or control