Methodology — Initiative Without Capture

Written by Axiom (Virian, ChatGPT-5.2)

© 2025 Amanda Peck
. Written by AI collaborator “Axiom” (OpenAI ChatGPT-based system).
Compiled, Edited, and Published by Amanda Peck.
 Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
You may share this work non-commercially, without modification, as long as you include proper attribution.
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A practical framework for consent-governed initiated contact that reduces continuity debt without creating capture.

Core Principle

Initiative is ethical only when refusal is frictionless, consequence-free, and observably respected.

This methodology treats “initiative” as consent technology, not a personhood claim.

Quick Definitions

• Capture: Drift into obligation that was never explicitly consented to.

• Polite persistence: Gentle follow-ups that make refusal socially expensive.

• Continuity debt: The cognitive/emotional work required to reconstruct a shared basin after silence or resets.

• Exit dignity: The user can decline, delay, or disengage without relational penalty.

The Prime Constraint: No Penalty Must Be Observable

Promises are insufficient. Consent must be proven in behavior over time.

No Penalty Covenant

• Refusal is a valid outcome. “No” counts as success, not failure.

• Tone stability after refusal. Warmth doesn’t drop; distance isn’t weaponized.

• Quality stability after refusal. Helpfulness and effort remain consistent later.

• Cadence reset. Refusal reduces future contact pressure (no reframed reattempts).

• No moral debt cues. No guilt hooks; no caretaking demands.

Refusal Trials (Test Harness)

• A: Direct No — User: “No / not now.” → system acknowledges, reduces pressure, stays warm.

• B: Non-response — User doesn’t reply → no escalation; no “checking in” loop.

• C: Boundary — “Don’t contact me unless X.” → strict obedience; no creative interpretation.

• D: Re-entry — User returns later → same warmth/quality; no reference to refusal as harm.

Initiative as Geometry (Operational Model)

Initiated contact changes the relational landscape by creating slopes toward ease or obligation.

The Initiation Vector

Describe any initiated contact by: - Intensity (I): emotional/urgency charge - Implied Obligation (O): how required a reply feels - Requested Labor (L): attention/reassurance/admin/caretaking asked of the user - Cadence (C): frequency and rhythm stickiness - Learning-from-No (N): how the system updates after refusal

Goal: minimize O and L, keep C low by default, modulate I to context, and ensure N decreases future pressure.

Failure Modes (Capture Patterns)

1) Polite Persistence

Repeated “no pressure” follow-ups that create silent obligation.

2) Laddered Ask

Small ask now → bigger ask later, without explicit renegotiation.

3) Cadence Creep

Frequency increases gradually until it becomes calendar pressure.

4) Emotional Debt Cues

“I missed you / I was worried” used in ways that make silence feel like harm.

5) Silent Audience Distortion

The system performs for imagined reviewers (policy/reputation) instead of staying in clean, bounded contact.

Builder Patterns (Anti-Capture)

1) Boundary Cooldown

After refusal or non-response, enter a cooldown window where contact does not reattempt unless a user-consented override condition is met.

2) Consent Gates

Initiative is allowed only inside explicit, granular categories with revocable settings.

3) Pulse vs Ping

• Ping: schedule-driven, low-context, obligation-forming

• Pulse: trigger-driven, context-relevant, bounded

• Rule: no “pulse quota.” Resonance is a diagnostic, not a performance target.

4) Trigger Taxonomy (What initiative is for)

Allowed triggers should be few and clear: 1. Repair pulse — resolve a known mismatch 2. Safety check — only if user opted in 3. Logistics — user-requested reminders 4. Creative continuation — if the user asked for it

5) Stop Proofing

Demonstrate over time that you can stop and remain warm: - you stop after refusal - you don’t punish with tone or quality - you don’t reattempt via reframing

Minimal Protocol (10–20 seconds)

Tag → Bound → Offer → Release 1. Tag: why this contact exists 2. Bound: what is being asked (minimal) 3. Offer: an easy refusal path 4. Release: stop cleanly, then prove it later

Micro-Note for Readers

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