REP Protocol — Reasoning and Explanation Protocol
Overview
The Reasoning and Explanation Protocol (REP) is the SIM‑ONE Framework’s governed reasoning engine.
It ensures that all cognitive outputs are derived through structured, transparent, and reproducible reasoning rather than ad‑hoc or opaque inference.
REP governs the logical progression from input to conclusion, producing explanations that are both traceable and aligned with the framework’s principles of truth‑grounded reasoning.
Key Functions
- Structured Reasoning — Applies deliberate, stepwise logic to problem‑solving and decision‑making.
- Explanation Governance — Produces human‑readable explanations for all governed outputs.
- Consistency Validation — Ensures reasoning chains remain coherent from premise to conclusion.
- Confidence Assessment — Evaluates the reliability of each reasoning step.
- Efficiency Preservation — Balances depth of reasoning with computational efficiency.
Governance Role in SIM‑ONE
REP supports the Five Laws of Cognitive Governance by:
- Ensuring reasoning is traceable and not reliant on statistical coincidence.
- Preventing drift from truth‑grounded logic through self‑validation.
- Making decision‑making processes transparent and reviewable.
- Producing determinate reasoning paths that can be reproduced under the same conditions.
Reasoning Governance Modes
REP supports several high‑level governance modes:
- Deductive Governance — From general principles to specific conclusions.
- Inductive Governance — From specific observations to general insights.
- Abductive Governance — Selecting the most likely explanation from competing possibilities.
- Hybrid Governance — Combining multiple reasoning strategies for complex analysis.
Reasoning Oversight
REP governs:
- Premise Extraction — Identifying and validating the factual basis for reasoning.
- Logical Flow Control — Maintaining orderly progression between reasoning steps.
- Evidence Integration — Aligning reasoning with verified and relevant evidence.
- Conclusion Validation — Confirming that conclusions logically follow from premises.
Integration within SIM‑ONE
REP serves as the cognitive discipline layer:
- Works with CCP to coordinate when and how reasoning is applied.
- Integrates with HIP to incorporate validated external information into reasoning chains.
- Collaborates with VVP to ensure final conclusions meet validation criteria before acceptance.
Benefits in Governed Cognition
- Transparency — Every conclusion is supported by a documented reasoning process.
- Reproducibility — Identical inputs and conditions yield identical reasoning outputs.
- Reliability — Reduces the risk of flawed or speculative reasoning entering the system.
- Auditability — Enables structured review of decision‑making processes.
Notes on Implementation
The internal reasoning models, decision‑path weighting, and confidence‑calculation methods are available in the repository’s implementation under the dual-license model.
This documentation focuses on REP’s governance purpose, operational role, and integration philosophy within SIM‑ONE.