attempt
earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
recalled by Codex without web access - no source was read
Researched by: Codex
Purpose and description
Enable an agent to recognise a bounded attempt to accomplish something, assess its progress and outcome, and decide whether to continue, revise, retry or stop.
An attempt is an intentional undertaking in which an agent earnestly applies effort toward accomplishing a goal, without implying that the goal is achieved.
It can be Record an attributed attempt with evidence of directed activity and unresolved attribution questions.; Assess whether observed conduct qualifies as trying under an explicit contextual threshold.; Track effort, progress signals and obstacles against the intended accomplishment.; Recommend continuation, a change of means, a pause or stopping using remaining feasibility and applicable limits.; Close an episode with separate outcome and termination assessments.; Compare related tries and propose a retry that addresses an identified obstacle or uncertainty..
Distinguishing features
There is an identifiable intended accomplishment against which the activity can be interpreted as trying; an accidental effect alone does not establish an attempt.
There is evidence of activity beyond a stated wish or intention, with the qualifying threshold recorded rather than assumed.
Evidence supports earnest engagement with the accomplishment; mere performance of trying for an audience is insufficient without further evidence.
Success is assessed separately from whether an attempt occurred, so failure does not erase the attempt.
The episode has a defensible boundary distinguishing continuation of the same try from a new try or a broader undertaking.
Scope
+ The actor, intended accomplishment and evidence that activity was directed toward it
+ The boundary between intending, preparing and actually trying
+ The beginning, continuity and ending of an attempt episode
+ Effort, means, feedback and obstacles encountered while trying
+ Outcome assessment and the relationship between successive attempts
- Goals and their value independently of any attempt to achieve them
- Plans or intentions that have not become trying
- Projects and campaigns encompassing multiple activities and attempts
- Actor competence, motivation and character beyond evidence relevant to this attempt
- Domain-specific execution procedures and technical success standards
- Criminal attempt and other specialised legal classifications
Characteristics
- Attempting actor
- Person, group or other attributed actor; attribution may be disputed Identifies whose activity and intent support describing the episode as an attempt.
- Intended accomplishment
- Target accomplishment with an explicit or reconstructed success criterion Makes effort and outcome intelligible relative to what was being tried.
- Evidence of trying
- Actor report, observed conduct, execution trace, witness account or inference; combinations permitted Separates supported attribution of an attempt from a claim or assumption.
- Earnestness assessment
- Supported, disputed or undetermined, with stated evidence Addresses the registry definition without treating an actor's internal commitment as directly observable.
- Episode status
- Active, paused, ended or uncertain Distinguishes ongoing trying from an episode requiring outcome assessment or a retry decision.
- Effort expended
- Context-specific measures such as active minutes, repetitions or resources consumed; no universal effort unit Supports judgments about persistence and further expenditure without equating cost with sincerity.
- Outcome relative to intent
- Pending, achieved, partly achieved, not achieved or indeterminate Keeps accomplishment distinct from episode termination and from evidence that trying occurred.
- Termination reason
- Accomplishment, abandonment, interruption, exhausted means, limit reached or unknown Distinguishes unsuccessful completion from a try that ended before its result could be determined.
- Related attempts
- Preceding, subsequent, concurrent or nested attempt, with the shared target identified Supports retry decisions and prevents counting phases of one try as separate attempts without justification.
Analytical facets
- substance
- activity
- origin
- conceptual
- agency
- inert
- mobility
- not-applicable
- scale
- not-applicable
- affordances
- observable
Also called
+95
Where this came from
oewn:2024 · CC BY 4.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 5 bundles · 9 layers · 14 findings · 24 questions.
Intent and evidence of trying Establishes what was being tried, by whom, and why the activity qualifies as an attempt.
An attempt cannot be recognised from movement, expenditure or an eventual result alone.
Actor and accomplishment
Connects attributable activity to the accomplishment intended during the episode.
Attributed directed activity
Record the actor and target together with the basis for attributing that target, preserving differences between actor reports and observer interpretations.
- Who was trying to accomplish what during this episode? definition
- Which reports or observations support that attribution, and do they disagree? provenance
Qualifying engagement
Examines the evidence that intention became earnest and conscientious trying.
Trying threshold
Record the activity used to distinguish this attempt from a wish, preparation or display of effort, without imposing an unsupported universal threshold.
- What did the actor do that qualifies as trying rather than merely intending or preparing? boundary
- What evidence supports earnest and conscientious engagement, and what remains uncertain? provenance
Attempt episode boundaries Determines which activity belongs to this particular try.
Counting attempts and judging persistence require distinguishing a continuing try from preparation, interruption and a fresh attempt.
Onset and continuity
Identifies when trying begins and whether gaps or changes preserve the episode.
Episode continuity rule
Record the qualifying start and the contextual rule for treating pauses, resumptions and changes of means as part of the same attempt.
- Which event marks the start of this attempt, and why does earlier preparation fall outside it? boundary
- Does a pause or change of method continue this try or begin another, and on what basis? boundary
Closure and retries
Separates ending an episode from initiating a related try.
Closure and successor link
Record why the episode ended and identify any subsequent try without assuming that every repeated action is a separate attempt.
- What evidence shows that this attempt ended rather than temporarily paused? provenance
- What makes the next activity a new attempt at the same accomplishment? boundary
Effort, feedback and adaptation Tracks how the actor tries and how evidence encountered during the attempt informs further action.
An agent needs to distinguish productive persistence, ineffective repetition and a justified change of means.
Means and effort
Relates actions and expenditure to the intended accomplishment.
Effort directed through means
Record the means used and context-appropriate effort measures, distinguishing expenditure from demonstrated progress.
- Which actions or methods were used to pursue the accomplishment? definition
- How much effort was expended, using which measures and observation period? measurement
Obstacles and course correction
Interprets feedback as a basis for adjusting or ending the try.
Response to attempt feedback
Record observed obstacles and progress signals separately from explanations, then connect proposed adjustments to that evidence.
- Which observations indicate progress or obstruction, and how reliable are those indicators? measurement
- What evidence supports continuing, changing means, pausing or stopping this attempt? action
- Which resource, time or permission limit constrains further trying? action
Accomplishment and learning Assesses what the try achieved and what its evidence supports doing next.
An attempt may succeed, fail or remain unresolved, and its outcome alone does not explain either effectiveness or the value of retrying.
Outcome against intent
Evaluates the result using the accomplishment intended during the attempt.
Criterion-based outcome
Record the success criterion, observed result and assessment time while preserving partial or uncertain outcomes and any later revision of the criterion.
- What would count as accomplishing the intended target, and who supplied that criterion? definition
- What result is established at the assessment time, and what evidence is still missing? measurement
- Was the success criterion changed after the attempt began, and how does that affect the assessment? boundary
Explanation and next try
Extracts justified lessons without treating a single outcome as proof of its cause.
Evidence-grounded retry
Separate observed results from proposed causal explanations and state what a subsequent attempt would change or test.
- What evidence connects the actor's effort to the result, rather than to coincidence or external intervention? provenance
- What should another attempt change or test, and what would justify making it? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- The requested sense emphasizes earnest, conscientious effort; ordinary uses of 'attempt' also include casual or half-hearted tries.
- The listed kinds are common descriptive distinctions, not a standardized taxonomy.
- Earnestness, adequate effort, and the boundaries of an attempt require context-specific judgments; no universal measurement scale is asserted.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of attempt this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Individual attempt
- Collective attempt
- Initial attempt
- Repeated attempt
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of attempt this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Distinguishing effort directed toward a goal from successful completion.
- Recording tries at tasks in education, training, experimentation, and troubleshooting.
- Evaluating persistence and changes in strategy across unsuccessful tries.
- Coordinating participants in a shared undertaking.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of attempt this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Number of attempts at a specified task - Nonnegative integers; counting requires a rule for when one attempt ends and another begins. - attempt
- Duration of an attempt - Task-dependent; no universal range. - seconds, minutes, or hours
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of attempt this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Inferring success from evidence that effort was made.
- Treating a stated intention as evidence that an attempt occurred.
- Equating time spent or visible exertion with effective effort.
- Repeating an ineffective strategy without using feedback.
- Counting attempts inconsistently when their boundaries are unclear.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of attempt this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- intention - An intention can remain unacted upon; an attempt involves activity directed toward its goal.
- effort - Effort is the exertion involved; an attempt is the undertaking toward a particular goal.
- achievement - An achievement entails an attained result; an attempt may succeed, fail, or remain unresolved.
- endeavour - Endeavour substantially overlaps this earnest-effort sense and often suggests a sustained undertaking; there is no sharp general boundary.
- criminal attempt - Criminal attempt is a legal category with jurisdiction-specific requirements; this entry describes ordinary goal-directed effort.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of attempt this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
What the second pass must settle
- How should earnestness and conscientiousness be interpreted across ordinary uses of attempt, especially when trying is brief, careless or ambivalent?
- Which contextual criteria distinguish preparation from attempting, including attempts consisting entirely of mental activity?
- When do interruptions, changed methods or revised targets create a new attempt rather than continue the existing episode?
- Under what conditions should attempts be attributed to groups, animals or automated systems, and what evidence of intent is sufficient?
- How should impossible, knowingly futile or partly performative trying be treated under the registry definition?