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Prediction system

A prediction is an explicit expectation with a resolution window and criteria that code can check (spec §11). Predictions are how the mind finds out it was wrong.

Structure

Field Meaning
statement what is expected, in words
confidence 0.05–0.95; certainty is refused
window_start / window_end when the expectation applies
criteria event_match (terms occur or stay absent in events of given types), belief (a belief reaches a confidence), or operator (a person judges)
belief_id the belief the prediction was derived from, if any
status open → confirmed, refuted, expired or withdrawn

prediction_results is append-only and keeps every outcome with the stated confidence and the error, so calibration cannot be rewritten.

Resolution

A scheduler runs the resolver every minute. For each open prediction it judges deterministically (predictions.Judge): event-match predictions look at the mind's events inside the window (excluding the prediction's own creation and other prediction events); belief predictions compare the current confidence; operator predictions expire a week after the window. Operators can also confirm, refute or withdraw from the UI, API or CLI.

Outcomes emit prediction_resolved or, for refutations, prediction_error with salience scaled by how confident the miss was. The result becomes evidence on the linked belief: confirmed adds support (weight 0.3), refuted adds opposition (weight 0.5), and the belief is re-evaluated with the usual arithmetic. The motivation rules raise arousal and uncertainty and lower confidence after a miss; curiosity turns the miss into a question that competes for attention and, if admitted, becomes an investigation goal.

Where predictions come from

  • Operators, through the Predictions page, the API or noemactl.
  • Causal hypotheses: when the associate process turns "A may have caused B" into a belief, a prediction is derived automatically — the effect should recur within 24 hours if the cause is real — with the belief's confidence, so a miss lowers the hypothesis.
  • Reflection reads calibration over the last ninety days and raises an overconfidence warning through metacognition; it does not create predictions. Consolidation creates none either. Prediction outcomes also feed source reliability (docs/beliefs.md).

Calibration

The dashboard shows accuracy (confirmed over decided), the Brier score, and buckets of stated confidence against actual hit rate over the last 90 days. A mind whose mean stated confidence exceeds its hit rate by more than 0.15 across at least five decided predictions is flagged as overconfident; metacognition (phase 10) uses the same signal to discount new confident claims.