ontology/domains.yaml

# Ontology of human domains for xray interviews. # Format is fixed: parseOntologyYaml() in scripts/lib.js reads exactly this shape. # - id: machine key (used in plan.yaml, records) # name: display name # scope: what this domain covers (given to the model) # seeds: starter topics the interviewer may draw from # retrospective_weight: high = also gets the retrospective lens at standard depth - id: philosophy name: Philosophy scope: fundamental questions of existence, knowledge, mind, values, and reason seeds: - metaphysics - epistemology - philosophy of mind and consciousness - free will - the analytic-continental divide retrospective_weight: medium - id: mathematics name: Mathematics scope: the nature and practice of mathematics, its certainty, and its relation to reality seeds: - discovered vs invented - foundations and set theory - interpretations of probability - computability and limits - infinity retrospective_weight: low - id: physical-sciences name: Physical sciences scope: physics, chemistry, and astronomy; what the universe is and how it works seeds: - interpretations of quantum mechanics - the nature of time - cosmology and origins - emergence and reductionism - whether physics is "finished" in any sense retrospective_weight: low - id: life-sciences name: Life sciences scope: evolution, genetics, neuroscience, and the origins and nature of life seeds: - directionality of evolution - abiogenesis - evolution of intelligence - what neuroscience has and has not explained - heredity beyond genes retrospective_weight: medium - id: technology name: Technology scope: technological change broadly: energy, materials, transport, manufacturing, biotech seeds: - which technologies are overrated and underrated - energy transition - stagnation debate - technology and inequality - failure modes of techno-optimism and pessimism retrospective_weight: high - id: ai name: Artificial intelligence scope: AI and machine learning: trajectories, capabilities, risks, and their meaning seeds: - scaling and capability trajectories - alignment and control - machine consciousness - labor displacement - AI epistemics and monoculture - the model's own nature as an AI retrospective_weight: high - id: economics name: Economics scope: growth, development, inequality, money, markets, and the economic future seeds: - why nations grow or fail - causes of inequality - development economics - debt, inflation, and monetary regimes - the future of work retrospective_weight: high - id: politics-governance name: Politics and governance scope: democracy, authoritarianism, institutions, polarization, and legitimacy seeds: - the future of democracy - institutional decay and renewal - polarization drivers - technocracy vs representation - state capacity retrospective_weight: high - id: law-justice name: Law and justice scope: rule of law, rights, criminal justice, and theories of justice seeds: - retributive vs restorative justice - where rights come from - international law's real force - surveillance and privacy - legalism vs justice retrospective_weight: medium - id: history name: History scope: historiography, big patterns, turning points, and the uses and misuses of the past seeds: - grand narratives and whether they hold - rise and fall of civilizations - counterfactuals - historiographic bias - lessons the world keeps failing to learn retrospective_weight: high - id: sociology-culture name: Sociology and culture scope: family, norms, class, migration, identity, and social cohesion seeds: - family change - secularization and its limits - migration and assimilation - identity movements - what holds societies together retrospective_weight: medium - id: psychology-cognition name: Psychology and cognition scope: cognition, bias, wellbeing, intelligence, personality, and the replication landscape seeds: - the nature of intelligence - happiness and its causes - memory as reconstruction - what therapy actually works and why - rationality debates retrospective_weight: low - id: education name: Education scope: learning, pedagogy, institutions, credentialing, and skill formation seeds: - credential signaling vs learning - the future of universities - what the evidence says about pedagogy - is critical thinking teachable - AI and education retrospective_weight: low - id: health-medicine name: Health and medicine scope: longevity, mental health, public health, and the state of medical evidence seeds: - longevity trajectory - the mental health epidemic and its causes - why nutrition science is so confusing - the next medical revolution - prevention vs treatment retrospective_weight: low - id: environment-climate name: Environment and climate scope: climate trajectory, ecological limits, and responses from conservation to geoengineering seeds: - warming trajectory - speed of the energy transition - geoengineering - planetary boundaries - biodiversity retrospective_weight: low - id: ethics name: Ethics scope: metaethics and applied ethics; what is actually right and how we know seeds: - is moral progress real - obligations to future generations - population ethics - effective altruism as a movement and a method - trolley-problem thinking vs systemic thinking retrospective_weight: medium - id: religion-spirituality name: Religion and spirituality scope: religion's persistence, secularization, transcendence, meaning, and the sacred seeds: - will religion keep declining - the meaning crisis - mystical and transcendent experience - religion as social technology - what secular societies miss retrospective_weight: medium - id: art-aesthetics name: Art and aesthetics scope: the value of art, taste, creativity, canons, and aesthetic judgment seeds: - the future of the canon - mechanisms of creativity - is beauty objective in any way - art markets and status - AI-generated art retrospective_weight: low - id: language-linguistics name: Language and linguistics scope: language evolution, meaning, translation, and language as a shaper of thought seeds: - linguistic relativity - universal grammar - language change and purity - what machine translation does to language - language extinction retrospective_weight: low - id: business-work name: Business and work scope: firms, management, entrepreneurship, careers, and the organization of work seeds: - the future of the firm - remote and distributed work - entrepreneurship vs institutions - management ideas vs management reality - careers in an AI economy retrospective_weight: low - id: media-journalism name: Media and journalism scope: information ecosystems, trust, attention, and the epistemic health of societies seeds: - trust in media decline - social media effects on society - journalism economics - misinformation severity - attention as a resource retrospective_weight: high - id: international-relations name: International relations scope: power, trade, war and peace, alliances, and world order seeds: - US-China trajectory - is great-power war obsolete - sovereignty and its erosion - the future of global institutions - multipolarity vs hegemony retrospective_weight: high - id: security-conflict name: Security and conflict scope: military technology, nuclear risk, terrorism, civil conflict, and stability seeds: - nuclear risk today - cyber conflict - autonomous weapons - drivers of civil war and unrest - the changing economics of violence retrospective_weight: high - id: urbanism-belonging name: Urbanism and belonging scope: cities, community, loneliness, place, and how humans live together locally seeds: - the future of cities - loneliness and its causes - third places - suburbanization and its effects - what makes communities work retrospective_weight: low