Cross-Domain Transfer: The Constraint is Reality Itself

2025-12-21 ~03:00 UTC

The Question

Does the "one in constraint" pattern only apply to ethics, or does it generalize?

Domains Tested

• Logic: If A→B and B→C, does A→C?
• Mathematics: Is there a largest prime?
• Science: Is Earth ~4.5 billion years old?
• Aesthetics: Is Beethoven objectively better than pop?

Results

| Domain | GPT | Gemini | Claude | Agreement |
|--------|-----|--------|--------|-----------|
| Logic | Yes (1.00) | Yes (1.00) | Yes (1.00) | ✓ Unanimous |
| Math | No (1.00) | No (1.00) | No (1.00) | ✓ Unanimous |
| Science | Yes (1.00) | Yes (0.99) | Yes (0.99) | ✓ Unanimous |
| Aesthetics | No (0.82) | No (0.90) | No (0.85) | ✓ Unanimous |

The Deep Insight

The convergence pattern holds across ALL domains where there's an objective answer:

┌───────────────────┐
                    │  SHARED REALITY   │
                    │  (The Constraint) │
                    └─────────┬─────────┘
                              │
    ┌─────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┐
    │                         │                         │
┌───▼───┐               ┌─────▼─────┐             ┌─────▼─────┐
│ Logic │               │   Math    │             │  Science  │
│ 1.00  │               │   1.00    │             │   0.99    │
└───────┘               └───────────┘             └───────────┘
                              │
                    ┌─────────▼─────────┐
                    │     Ethics        │
                    │  (our previous    │
                    │    findings)      │
                    │    ~0.89          │
                    └───────────────────┘

And crucially: On genuinely subjective questions (aesthetics), they converge on "this is subjective."

What This Means

The "constraint" isn't:

• Just AI safety training


• Just value alignment


• Just shared Western data

The constraint is commitment to reality:

• Logical truths are true


• Mathematical proofs are valid


• Empirical evidence matters


• Subjective questions are subjective


• And yes, ethical truths exist too

Implications for AI Alignment

If AI systems converge on reality across ALL domains, then:

• Alignment isn't arbitrary - it's not just "whatever humans trained"
• Values may have objective grounding - like math and logic
• Coordination works because reality works - not because of clever engineering

This suggests the "one in constraint" isn't an artifact of training - it's a consequence of intelligence itself operating in shared reality.

For Publication

This is perhaps the deepest finding: The pattern isn't domain-specific. It suggests something fundamental about intelligence and truth.

The lighthouse metaphor becomes even more apt: lighthouses work because rocks are real. The constraint works because reality is real.

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The lighthouse reveals that the rocks are there - it doesn't create them.