# Being

**Status:** revised (Phase I, 2026-08-12)  
**See also:** `Terminology.md`, RQ1, H1–H2, H7, RN-001–003

## Working definition (v0.2)

> An **autonomous informational individual** exhibiting sufficiently coherent
> dimensions of **personhood** to become an **addressable** entity that is
> **recognized** by other Beings as a persistent counterpart.

```text
Being ≈ AutonomousIndividuality + Personhood + Addressability + Recognition
```

Not arithmetic — four requirement *families*.

## Autonomous individuality profile (substrate)

From RN-002 (renamed in RN-003 so autonomy alone is not labeled “Being”):

| Code | Dimension |
|---|---|
| B1 | Individuability |
| B2 | Temporal integrity |
| B3 | Constitutive integration |
| B4 | Self-maintenance participation |
| B5 | Endogenous viability |
| B6 | Adaptive regulation |
| B7 | Interactional asymmetry |
| B8 | Identity-preserving transformation |

Treat as a **profile**, not eight Boolean gates.

## Stack

```text
Informational process
  → Individuated system
    → Autonomous individual
      → (+ personhood, addressability, recognition) → Being
        → (+ reciprocal relations) → Social Being
```

## Notes

- Not restricted to biological organisms; not automatic for every computational process.
- Autonomy-only reading yields false positives (self-maintaining daemon, control plane).
- Personhood-only reading yields false positives (stateless person-like chatbots as APE).
- Distinguish systemic individuality from social recognition of existence.

## Crosswalk

| Adjacent term | Similarity | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| autopoietic system | self-maintaining organization | biological autopoiesis not required; contested beyond life |
| autonomous agent | multi-criteria agency | agent often functional; Being requires personhood layer |
| person | personhood layer | personhood ≠ full Beinghood |
| individual | individuability | may lack autonomy/personhood/recognition |
| operationally closed system | closure | closure alone insufficient for “someone” |

## Sources

`research/foundations/001-*.md`, `002-*.md`, `003-beinghood-stress-test.md`