people
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
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.
Researched by: Codex
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to recognise a specified plurality of human beings, assess their collective circumstances without erasing individual differences, and identify justified ways to engage with them.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
It can be Identify and describe the people included at a stated time while recording uncertain boundaries.; Estimate their number and relevant composition using evidence appropriate to the task.; Compare collective circumstances over time while accounting for membership changes.; Seek views through suitable channels and record participation, disagreement and missing voices.; Check a representative's mandate before relying on a statement or accepting a collective decision.; Propose or coordinate assistance and participation within evidenced authority and applicable constraints..
Distinguishing features
The referent is multiple human beings considered together; a single human being belongs to a person model.
An inclusion criterion can identify who is being discussed even when the people have no shared name, mutual awareness or collective identity.
The referent remains the human beings themselves when an associated organisation, place, event or dataset is removed from the description.
Shared membership does not by itself establish a common intention, spokesperson or capacity for coordinated action.
A category description alone is insufficient to establish the circumstances of the actual people included under that description.
Scope
+ The criterion, context and time that determine which human beings are included
+ The number and composition of the people, with uncertainty and relevant internal differences
+ Relationships, interactions and any evidenced sense of belonging among those included
+ Shared circumstances, expressed needs and differences in how conditions affect members
+ Collective expression, representation and the limits of authority to act for members
+ Conditions for appropriate contact, participation and assistance
- An individual person's identity, biography or personal case record
- An organisation's legal identity, governance structure, assets and operations
- A household's domestic arrangements and shared household resources
- A settlement or territory's geographic boundaries, infrastructure and administration
- An event's programme, venue and operational lifecycle
- A statistical dataset's schema, sampling implementation and processing pipeline
Characteristics
- Basis of inclusion
- Explicit criteria such as presence, relationship, activity, self-identification or a stated selection rule Establishes which people the model concerns and prevents unnoticed changes in its referent.
- Number of people
- Persons; exact count, estimated range or unknown, with reference time Supports recognition, capacity planning and interpretation of aggregate observations.
- Membership continuity
- Fixed for a reference period, changing, intermittently observed or unknown Determines whether successive observations concern the same people.
- Relevant internal composition
- Task-relevant subgroups and their known or estimated sizes; overlaps and unknowns explicit Prevents a collective description from concealing differences that change an appropriate action.
- Mutual connection
- Observed or reported interaction, relationship or interdependence; none established or unknown Distinguishes a connected group from people grouped solely by an observer.
- Shared identification
- Expressed by all consulted, some consulted, disputed, not investigated or unknown Separates members' own identification from an externally applied label.
- Collective circumstances
- Dated descriptions of shared conditions, affected subsets and unresolved variation Grounds judgments of the people's situation without attributing one condition to every member.
- Representation mandate
- Representative, people represented, authorisation basis, permitted topics, duration and known objections Limits which statements and decisions may be treated as authorised on behalf of others.
- Participation coverage
- Number or proportion consulted or participating, with denominator and unknown coverage Shows whose views informed a judgment and whose views remain unrepresented.
- Engagement requirements
- Evidenced language, accessibility, communication, privacy and support requirements Makes proposed engagement practicable for the people affected.
Analytical facets
- substance
- social
- origin
- conceptual
- agency
- inert
- mobility
- not-applicable
- scale
- not-applicable
- affordances
- observable
Also called
+152
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 · 10 layers · 10 findings · 20 questions.
Collective reference Establishes which human beings are being considered together and whether that reference remains stable.
People can be grouped by an observer without constituting a named or organised body, so the model needs an explicit basis for collective reference.
Inclusion and labels
Defines the inclusion criterion and the origin of the collective description.
Referent and membership rule
Record the rule identifying the people, the context in which it applies and whether the label comes from members or an external observer.
- Which human beings qualify for inclusion, and which nearby cases do not? boundary
- Who supplied the collective label and inclusion rule, and have members endorsed or disputed them? provenance
Continuity through change
Distinguishes changes among the people from changes in which people are included.
Membership over time
Record the reference period, known arrivals and departures, and the basis for treating observations as referring to the same collective.
- Does this description follow the same human beings or whoever meets the criterion at each observation? definition
- What membership changes limit comparisons between the recorded periods? boundary
Numbers and differences Describes how many people are included and which internal differences matter to the intended judgment.
An aggregate count or typical profile can hide absent people, overlapping memberships and materially different needs.
Enumeration and coverage
Records the extent and reliability of knowledge about the number of people.
Count and visibility
Record a dated count or estimate, its method, and people potentially missed or counted more than once.
- How many people meet the inclusion criterion at the reference time, and what is the uncertainty? measurement
- How was the count obtained, and which people might that method miss or count repeatedly? provenance
Relevant variation
Captures internal differences that affect interpretation or action without treating subgroup labels as personal profiles.
Subgroups and distributions
Record evidenced, task-relevant variation, subgroup overlap and gaps that make a collective average inadequate.
- Which differences among these people would change the proposed action or its expected effects? action
- What evidence describes those differences, including overlapping subgroups and people whose circumstances are unknown? measurement
Connections and belonging Separates being described together from knowing, identifying with or coordinating with one another.
The registry definition permits any plurality of humans; cohesion and shared identity must therefore be established separately.
Relationships and interaction
Describes actual connections among the people and the limits of those connections.
Evidenced human connections
Record observed or reported relationships, interactions and dependencies, including disconnected subsets where relevant.
- What connects these people beyond their inclusion under the same description? definition
- Which observations or member accounts establish those connections, and which subsets do they cover? provenance
Identity and coordination
Distinguishes expressed belonging from demonstrated ability to act together.
Belonging and joint action
Record members' expressions of belonging and evidence of coordination separately, preserving disagreement and limited participation.
- Which people express a shared identity or purpose, and whose position is different or unknown? provenance
- What joint action has been demonstrated or explicitly agreed, and who actually participates? action
Circumstances and needs Records the people's current situation, its uneven effects and what they say would improve it.
Judging the state of people requires attention to lived conditions and expressed needs rather than treating group membership as an explanation.
Shared and uneven conditions
Identifies circumstances affecting the people and variation in exposure or consequences.
Conditions and affected people
Record dated evidence of relevant conditions, the people affected and whether changes reflect circumstances or changing membership.
- Which relevant conditions are shared, and how many people experience each condition? measurement
- What evidence separates a change in people's circumstances from a change in who was observed? provenance
Priorities and capacities
Connects expressed needs with existing abilities, support relationships and competing priorities.
Expressed needs and available support
Record what consulted people request, what they can undertake themselves and where support or priorities differ.
- Which needs and priorities were expressed by which people, and which were inferred by others? provenance
- What support or joint activity do the affected people want, and what capacities or constraints shape its feasibility? action
Voice and permitted engagement Establishes whose statements can guide action and how affected people can participate, decline or challenge it.
A plurality of people is not automatically a single decision-maker, and one member's participation does not establish authority over others.
Representation and disagreement
Records mandates, consultation coverage and differences that limit claims of collective agreement.
Authority to speak or decide
Record who is authorised to speak or decide for whom, on which matters and for how long, alongside objections and unrepresented views.
- What evidence establishes each representative's mandate, its scope and the people it covers? provenance
- Whose agreement, objection or absence prevents the proposed decision from being attributed to the whole collective? boundary
Contact and participation
Makes engagement responsive to access requirements, individual choices and the authority needed for the proposed action.
Engagement conditions
Record suitable contact methods, evidenced participation requirements, applicable permissions and ways for affected people to decline or challenge engagement.
- Which communication methods and accommodations allow the affected people to understand and participate in this action? action
- What authorisation does the action require, and how can individual people decline participation or challenge how they are represented? action
What the second pass must settle
- Does an existing Vercy world model already own this broad collective-human concept, requiring this registry entry to link to it?
- Where does the registry place the boundary between generic people and more specific populations, crowds, communities or social groups?
- What continuity rule should distinguish the same collective with changing membership from a newly defined collective?
- What evidence and coverage thresholds are needed before describing a condition, preference or decision as collective?
- Which context-specific requirements govern sensitive attributes, engagement with children, representation and permission for the intended agent actions?