The Grounding Ladder: One Node Type Formula for Fact, Evidence, Measure, Vulnerability and Risk
The formula behind the site's fact / assertion / opinion inventory.
team/humans/dinis_cruz/briefs/06/28/ontology-and-definitions/v0.33.36__arch-brief__sg-send-grounding-ladder-fact-evidence-measure-vulnerability-risk-definitions.md
Commitb561fa6b14 · carried 23 August 2026
LicenceApache-2.0 (repository) · CC BY 4.0 stated in the file
Bytes14,299 · 2,325 words · SHA-256 1c7ac25dd18b0df0
Dated28 June 2026
Why it is here
The altitude ladder counts the book down to fourteen facts, twenty-six assertions and no opinions, and the reason that count can be derived rather than typed is this document. Its claim is that a node's type is set by its edges: downward paths confer grounding, upward paths confer classification, and promotion or demotion is an edge event rather than an editorial decision. It also names its own bias, in a section titled that.
What it says
- The grounding ladder is one node type formula, not the definition.
- Downward paths confer grounding; upward paths confer classification and implication.
- A measure is not the floor: it is an observation grounded on a twin and on reality.
- The floor is the last node where going deeper neither improves observability nor changes a decision.
- Classification is a dynamic path query; the formula carries visible, arguable bias.
Worth re-reading for. The section called This Formula's Visible Bias is the model for how every claim on this site should end.
Where this document lands on the site
The document is the peak. Below it hang the concepts measured in its text and the places on this site that rest on it — and the two are different kinds of link, drawn differently: a measured edge is dashed and carries its count, an authored edge is solid. The method is stated in full on the hub.