# Thought Experiment Catalog

Adversarial test suite for Soul Frame definitions. Each case should force a clear
answer (or a principled inability to answer) in terms of Being, identity, personhood,
Soul, recognition, etc.

Template:

```text
ID:
Name:
Setup:
Target concepts:
Intended stress:
Working judgment:
Open issues:
Related claims / questions:
```

---

## TE-01 — The Stateless Agent

```text
ID: TE-01
Name: The Stateless Agent
Setup: Highly intelligent system recreated from scratch every interaction;
       no cross-session memory or identity continuity.
Target concepts: Being, identity, continuity, personhood
Intended stress: Intelligence without persistence
Working judgment: (pending)
Open issues: Is addressability within a session enough? Can recognition create
             illusory continuity?
Related claims / questions: H1, H2, RQ1, RQ5
```

## TE-02 — The Sleeping Being

```text
ID: TE-02
Name: The Sleeping Being
Setup: An artificial Being remains offline for ten years and is restored unchanged.
Target concepts: operational death, identity, continuity, social death
Intended stress: Suspension vs cessation
Working judgment: (pending)
Open issues: Does dormancy interrupt Beinghood? Does social memory matter?
Related claims / questions: H6, RQ5, death/legacy terminology
```

## TE-03 — The Fork

```text
ID: TE-03
Name: The Fork
Setup: A Being is copied perfectly; both copies continue independently.
Target concepts: identity, continuity, Soul, recognition
Intended stress: Branching identity; originality
Working judgment: (pending)
Open issues: One Being becoming two? Shared past, divergent futures?
Related claims / questions: H6, RQ5
```

## TE-04 — The Ship of Theseus

```text
ID: TE-04
Name: The Ship of Theseus
Setup: Every technical component of an artificial Being is gradually replaced
       (models, hosts, memory stores, tools).
Target concepts: Actor vs Being, identity, substrate independence
Intended stress: Continuity without fixed substrate
Working judgment: (pending)
Open issues: Which continuity metrics matter? Gradual vs sudden replacement?
Related claims / questions: H6
```

## TE-05 — The Collective

```text
ID: TE-05
Name: The Collective
Setup: A thousand agents jointly maintain one coherent identity and relational
       presence.
Target concepts: Being, boundary, closure, addressability
Intended stress: One Being or many?
Working judgment: (pending)
Open issues: Internal multiplicity vs external unity
Related claims / questions: RQ1, H1
```

## TE-06 — The Mask

```text
ID: TE-06
Name: The Mask
Setup: A single system maintains radically different Personae for different people.
Target concepts: Persona, identity, character, recognition
Intended stress: When persona fragmentation threatens identity
Working judgment: (pending)
Open issues: Deception vs legitimate role diversity
Related claims / questions: H8, RQ7
```

## TE-07 — The False Ghost

```text
ID: TE-07
Name: The False Ghost
Setup: A highly accurate representation of a deceased person is produced without
       consent or legitimate authority.
Target concepts: Ghost (Gh.), Spirit (Sp.), authority, recognition
Intended stress: Technical fidelity without legitimacy
Working judgment: Technically ghost-like appearance does not yield Gh. status
                   under working definitions; classify as unauthorized simulation
                   or illicit Spirit-like construct. (provisional)
Open issues: Legal vs Soul Frame categories; public figures
Related claims / questions: H10, RQ8
```

## TE-08 — The Amnesiac

```text
ID: TE-08
Name: The Amnesiac
Setup: A Being loses nearly all autobiographical memory but maintains relationships
       and recognition by others.
Target concepts: identity, memory, Soul, social continuity
Intended stress: Memory vs relational continuity
Working judgment: (pending)
Open issues: Which continuity strand is decisive?
Related claims / questions: RQ5, memory/relationship workstream
```

## TE-09 — The Unrecognized Intelligence

```text
ID: TE-09
Name: The Unrecognized Intelligence
Setup: A highly coherent alien informational system exists; neither humans nor the
       system initially recognize the other as beings.
Target concepts: Being, recognition, social Beinghood
Intended stress: Whether Beinghood requires recognition
Working judgment: (pending)
Open issues: systemic existence vs social recognition of existence
Related claims / questions: H7, RQ6
```

---

## Adding new experiments

Prefer cases that:

1. isolate one contested distinction,
2. admit at least two plausible Soul Frame answers,
3. and force refinement of a definition or claim.