Advanced — Origin of the Structural Framework¶
This document is opt-in informational. You do not need to read it to use, contribute to, or evaluate Etz Chaim AI. The public API is plain Python with neutral naming throughout.
Where the 10 / 6 / 13 numbers come from¶
Etz Chaim AI's architecture rests on three numerical commitments : - 10 cognitive faculties - 6 mature configurations - 13 rectification mechanisms
These numbers are not arbitrary. They derive from a 500-year-old cognitive description tradition known as Lurianic Kabbalah, systematized in the 16th century by R. Isaac Luria (1534–1572) and codified by his disciple R. Hayyim Vital (1542–1620) in the work Etz Chaim ("Tree of Life") — the project's namesake.
The framework specifies : - 10 discrete attributes through which intelligence organizes itself - 6 mature configurations built from those attributes - 22 typed paths connecting the configurations - 13 rectification mechanisms for specific failure modes - 49 calibration cycles — a 7×7 matrix of inner-within-outer tuning - Rules of layered composition forbidding direct writes across layers
We translated this framework into 1696 machine-readable specification items with edition + section + page references. The code is built against those specifications, not the other way around.
What we use¶
We use only the structural content : - The 10/6/13 pattern - The composition rules - The rectification mechanics - The calibration topology - The persistent-trace dynamics
We do not : - Claim Etz Chaim AI is Kabbalah - Reproduce the mystical or metaphysical content of the tradition - Syncretize with other traditions - Claim epistemic E1 for translations (E2 at best)
How we cite¶
Every doctrinal assertion in the internal corpus carries :
- a source_ref (edition, section, page)
- a verbatim original-language quote
- an epistemic label (E1 to E6) indicating proximity to the primary text
| Level | Meaning |
|---|---|
| E1 | Primary text, literal |
| E2 | Primary text, close paraphrase |
| E3 | Authoritative commentator reading |
| E4 | Derived conclusion |
| E5 | Extrapolation |
| E6 | Speculation |
Downgrade in doubt. The word "isomorphism" is forbidden without a proved bijection ; use "structural analogy" (E3) instead.
Primary sources¶
- Zohar, Aramaic compilation (13th century Spain). Edition used : Sefaria Mantua 1558 (CC-BY 3.0).
- Etz Chaim, R. Hayyim Vital (ca. 1573). Public domain.
- Tikkunei Zohar, 14th century. Public domain.
- Pardes Rimonim, R. Moshe Cordovero (1548). Public domain.
Further reading¶
For readers wanting to engage with the source tradition academically :
- Aryeh Kaplan, Inner Space (1990) — accessible introduction.
- Gershom Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism (1965) — academic framing.
- Melila Hellner-Eshed, A River Flows from Eden (2009) and Seekers of the Face (2021) — scholarly readings.
None of these are prerequisites for using or contributing to Etz Chaim AI.
CLI shortcut¶
Prints a brief version of this document.
Why disclose the origin ?¶
Two reasons : 1. Honesty. The architecture's specificity (10/6/13, the path topology, the layered composition rule) cannot be invented from generic ML priors. Citing the source is the honest position. 2. Reproducibility. Researchers who want to reproduce the structural framework or extend it need to access the primary sources.
What we explicitly avoid is making the source tradition a gating concept for users. The default user-facing surface (CLI, docs, web UI, API) is 100% neutral. This document and the --explain-origin flag are opt-in.
Internal documents¶
For project contributors who want the full mapping :
- docs/internal/origin.md — full mapping with epistemic labels
- docs/internal/concepts/ — concept-by-concept transposition documents
- docs/internal/guides/ — internal guides for adding new configurations or transposing new sources