Society · Coordination
FractionalDelivery
Pre-position part of a possible future configuration so that, when the game changes, most agents already fit the new optimum and only the remaining fraction must change strategy
Definition
Mechanism
In an OrganisationGame the best joint strategy keeps changing. For a change that may come (a server failure, a new reporting need, a different conversation), deliver part of the configuration it would require in advance: some components built, some agents already playing a strategy compatible with the new game. The delivered fraction is measured as the agents or components that would not need to change strategy to reach the new optimum, out of all involved; the undelivered remainder is the change's Laterality. Raising the delivered fraction lowers the laterality of the switch and so makes it more likely to happen in time. This is how a FractionalMetaModel is built on purpose, e.g. as a matrix of components against possible stressors recording how much of each is already delivered. The price is EndogenousStress: preparation that does not pay until the change comes, and work to remove it if the change never comes. The delivered fraction should therefore track how likely the change is.
Preconditions
- A possible future change of game can be described in terms of the configuration it would require
Invariants
- Delivered fraction plus remaining laterality covers all agents or components involved in the change
- A higher delivered fraction means fewer agents must change strategy when the game changes
- The delivered fraction carries a standing cost as endogenous stress
Risks
Failure modes
Delivering fully for every possible change, at a cost that blocks integration altogether
Leaving likely changes undelivered, so switching needs many agents to move at once
Never removing fractional delivery for changes that have become unlikely
Relationships
Builds on
References
Mind
The internal load a system carries from being partly prepared for possible external stressors
Mind
An implementation that is at once one working model and a partial implementation of several others, so that some functions can be completed or removed with a small change
The number of functional units that must coordinate for an action to happen; the more units, the less likely it happens
A pure coordination game in which the best joint strategy keeps changing, so the key is how cheaply players can move to the next game
Nothing in this library builds on this pattern yet.