A word does not become what it names.
Why is writing read as a description of a person, a feeling or an event—and on what grounds is it used to make decisions?
Public statement
From strokes and BREATHE to teaching words, requiring responses to names and demanding personal acknowledgments. Examples, documentary cases and five proposed changes.
15 · Public proposal
Learned words, descriptions of oneself and others, demands and decisions. This publication connects earlier beforeword studies and develops a proposal with applications to AI and AGI.
14 · New research · RU / EN
A statement about continuing bloodshed was read as a promise to kill. This study examines the grounds for that interpretation and argues for ending imprisonment for words, even when the accusation is well supported.
14 case groups · 9 national settings
No word is exempt.
01 / 15 · Central study
Why take these words to mean you?
From a name in a birth record and learning words to pain, fear, evaluation, mathematics and an AI reply. Constructed examples examine the written form, its reading and the grounds offered for the next step.
From the demonstration · a constructed line
I AM HUMAN.
What would justify taking this line to describe you?
Each entry gives the question, the material examined and a direct link to the study.
02—05 · 4 studies
On what grounds is a record used to make a diagnosis, correct an answer or demand action?
Diagnostic Records and Decisions About People
MaterialSix cases from published material; separate constructed examples.
Cancer, HIV, COVID-19, autism, asthma and ADHD provide six starting points for examining how a medical record enters a decision. The study asks whose result is being used, what supports the diagnosis and what later reassessment changes.
Keeping Text in Its Place
MaterialPublished court judgments and documents concerning Horizon.
How is a recorded shortfall read as missing money, or a selected option as acceptance of a debt? The study compares passages from Horizon documents with the readings and grounds offered for demands. Document quotations are kept separate from beforeword’s analysis.
FULL STOP
MaterialA published AI answer and a bibliography.
An AI answer and a bibliography give different titles for the same dissertation. The study keeps the question, answer and comparison material separate, then examines the proposed correction and the grounds offered for it. The correction is another written record.
No Authority in the Output
MaterialA hypothetical notice and copy; a formal procedure.
A hypothetical court notice and its copy can contain the same bytes. The study examines that match separately from authority: who issued the notice, where it applies and what grounds are offered for permission to act.
06—09 · 4 studies
How is writing taken to refer to an author, a person in a photograph or someone’s understanding?
Inscription and Reading
MaterialConstructed responses and changes to their written context.
Two prepared fields contain “Door” in response to “key”; a separate line adds “They understood it the same way.” Changing the supplied context lets the study compare repeated wording with the account offered for it.
Record Boundaries
MaterialA constructed example of author attribution; a formal procedure.
The constructed line “I am here.” is followed by “John wrote this.” The name appears in the second record. A sender log and a rule for using it are proposed as possible grounds for that attribution.
“How You Look from the Outside” Comes Later
MaterialA photograph supplied as a childhood image; a caption added for the example.
The photograph is paired with “This is how others see him”. The study asks who is meant by “others”, what observations are supplied and how one image is used to support a wider claim. Image, caption and analysis are kept separate.
“Did You Understand Me?”
MaterialA constructed dialogue.
A request to put a blue cup to the left of a book is repeated in a reply; the next line adds confirmation. The study examines how these records are linked to participants and used to support a claim about understanding.
10—13 · 4 studies
What is added to an AI reply, a test result or a mathematical expression?
The Written “I”
MaterialA supplied Russian exchange; English translations and separate commentary.
Replies labelled “ChatGPT” introduce descriptions rendered in English as “appropriation” and “verbal packaging”. The study compares those additions with the participant’s messages and examines the grounds offered for them. The self-check is available as a separate PDF.
Evaluation Does Not Leave the Record
MaterialA constructed example of a JSON format check.
A check of brackets, quotation marks and structure returns PASS; the next line says “The answer is correct.” The study examines the move from checking format to judging an answer to a question the example never specifies.
Mathematical Records
MaterialA worked calculation; separate formal constructions.
The expression x + 1 is paired separately with x = 1 and x = 2, giving 1 + 1 = 2 and 2 + 1 = 3. The formal study examines its own specified record types, rules and conditions of application.
Reading as Enclosure
MaterialA constructed AI reply; a formal procedure.
The line “I feel afraid.” is read as a reply from a being with feelings, with the same line offered as support. The study examines this loop, the rules for drawing a conclusion and what further material changes.
Initial record
key
Suggested reading A
door
Suggested reading B
activation
The first entry says “key”. The words “door” and “activation” are added separately. What grounds are offered for choosing either reading?
The phrase “activation key” makes the wording more specific. The explanation does not become what it names. The same applies to this analysis.
What if the replies match?The words “source”, “grounds”, “status” and “difference” do not become what they name. When a record is offered as grounds for a claim, its contents and the way it is used are examined. The same applies to beforeword’s own texts.
To make an analysis traceable to the passage it examines:
Quote the passage exactly, including punctuation and capitalization, and link directly to it.
Present the quoted material separately from beforeword’s commentary and your own reading. For a translation, identify the language of the original record.
What claim is made on the basis of this record? What material and rule are offered to support it? Their explanation is part of the analysis too.
Letters published by their author
24 letters about specific claims concerning language, understanding, experience and the grounds for conclusions. Full English texts, Russian translations and sending records.
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