Memex Ontology: Concept Term Reference Supplement
Primitive Elements
| Concept | Term |
|---|
| The fundamental unit of capture | Mnemegram |
| Persistent things referenced across mnemegrams | Referent |
| A claim made about a mnemegram, referent, or relation | Assertion |
| That which interacts with the memex | Agent |
| Interpretive structures that render meaning | Schema |
Derived Structures
| Concept | Term |
|---|
| Connections between mnemegrams and referents | Relation |
| Situating assertions (temporal, spatial, relational, conditional) | Context |
| Structures enabling retrieval | Index |
| Bounded sets of mnemegrams | Collection |
| The origin-tracking chain of a mnemegram—what it derives from, what derives from it | Provenance |
| Term | Concept |
|---|
| Captured Information | Mnemegrams and assertions created through agent inscription of experience |
| Systemic Information | Assertions and structures that emerge from the operation of the memex itself |
| Generative Information | Mnemegrams and assertions produced through creative, analytic, or synthetic engagement with existing content |
Essential Properties
| Term | Concept |
|---|
| E1: Mnemegram Primitivity | The memex holds mnemegrams as its fundamental content |
| E2: Assertive Capacity | The memex supports assertions about mnemegrams |
| E3: Referent Capacity | The memex can represent persistent referents referenced across mnemegrams |
| E4: Retrievability | Mnemegrams can be found and accessed |
| E5: Interpretability | Schemas render mnemegrams meaningful |
| E6: Agency | Agents engage with the memex |
Functional Capacities
| Term | Concept |
|---|
| F1: Inscription | Creating mnemegrams from experience |
| F2: Assertion | Making claims about mnemegrams, referents, and relations |
| F3: Indexing | Creating structures that enable retrieval |
| F4: Retrieval | Returning mnemegrams to agents on request |
| F4.1: Surfacing | System-initiated presentation of relevant mnemegrams |
| F5: Relating | Establishing relations between mnemegrams and referents |
| F6: Versioning | Tracking states and changes across time |
| F7: Generation | Producing new mnemegrams from existing content |
| F8: Transmission | Making mnemegrams available beyond original context |
| F9: Protection | Controlling access and maintaining integrity |
Teleological Orientations
| Term | Concept |
|---|
| T1: To Persist | Making experience outlast the moment |
| T2: To Accumulate | Enabling knowledge to compound over time |
| T3: To Connect | Revealing relations between mnemegrams, referents, and moments |
| T4: To Orient | Situating the present through knowledge of the past |
| T5: To Hold Accountable | Making action consequential across time |
| T6: To Transmit | Carrying memory across temporal, spatial, ontological separation |
| T7: To Reflect | Making cognition visible to itself |
| T8: To Generate | Providing material for future creation |
| T9: To Commune | Enabling presence and intimacy across absence |
| T10: To Identify | Sustaining continuity of self through persistent memory |
| T11: To Forget | Structured release, letting go, making space (undecided) |
Reference supplement to “An Ontology of Memex”