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Signal Fundamentals

Signals represent the trust, confidence, or relevance that the community assigns to Atoms and Triples in the Intuition knowledge graph. Think of the knowledge graph as a weighted graph where Signal is the weight on each node (Atom) or edge (Triple), indicating how strongly people believe in or care about this information.

Understanding Signals​

Signal, in the context of Intuition, refers to any action or indication that expresses intent, belief, or support. Signals can be classified into three broad categories: explicit signal, implicit signal, and transitive signal.

Signals transform static data into a dynamic, trusted intelligence layer. When someone stakes tokens on an Atom or Triple, they emit a Signal expressing that they find that piece of information important or true.

Types of Signal​

Explicit Signal​

A clear, intentional action taken by a user to express support, belief, or intent. These actions are directly observable and often involve a formal mechanism within the system.

Examples:

  • Voting mechanisms
  • Signed attestations
  • Token staking
  • Direct claims

Implicit Signal​

Indirect or inferred indications of support, belief, or intent. This signal is not always directly observable and is often deduced from user behavior or patterns.

Examples:

  • Frequency of queries and references
  • Inclusion in other Triples
  • Application usage metrics
  • Usage patterns

Transitive Signal​

Trust or belief that is passed along through a network of relationships. This type of signal leverages the idea that trust can be extended through connections.

Example: If User A attests to something about User B, and User C trusts User A, then User C extends trust to User B.

Signal in Intuition​

Though all systems naturally generate implicit signal, explicit signal in Intuition is expressed in a novel format that enables and incentivizes the creation of many-to-one, non-deterministic attestations.

In Intuition, these semantic statements do not have a single 'issuer' - instead, anyone/anything can signal support or rejection of any existing statement/attestation at any point in time.

How Signals are Created​

The core mechanism for creating signals is through staking (also called attesting). When you deposit tokens into an Atom's vault or a Triple's vaults, you're effectively buying "shares" in that piece of information.

Staking Mechanics​

  • Atoms: Each Atom has a single staking vault
  • Triples: Each Triple has two vaults (positive and negative)
  • Shares: Your stake represents proportional ownership and conviction

For example:

  • Staking 100 TRUST on the Atom [Ethereum] gives you a fraction of total Atom Shares for [Ethereum]
  • Staking 50 TRUST on [Alice] is Friend Of [Bob] in the affirmative vault gives you Triple Shares supporting that friendship claim

Bonding Curves​

The bonding curve mechanics mean share prices depend on existing stake levels:

  • Early stakers get better prices
  • Later stakers pay more for the same signal increment
  • This creates a perpetual prediction market for information

Atom Signal​

Within the Intuition framework, users signal their belief in the relevance of an Atom by adjusting their balance on that Atom.

Balance Interpretation:

  • Zero Balance: No signal, neutral stance
  • Positive Balance: Indicates belief in relevance (higher = stronger)
  • Users earn fees proportional to their ownership stake

Triple Signal​

In the Intuition framework, users signal their belief in both the relevance and truthfulness of a Triple by modifying their balance on that Triple.

Triple Balance System:

  • Zero Balance: No signal, neutral stance
  • Positive Balance: Affirms the Triple (considered true and relevant)
  • Negative Balance: Signals rejection (considered false but relevant)

Example: Trustworthiness Triple​

For a Triple asserting [Vitalik][is][trustworthy]:

  • Positive Balance: Believes Vitalik is trustworthy
  • Negative Balance: Believes Vitalik is not trustworthy
  • Zero Balance: No opinion on trustworthiness

Total Value Locked and Consensus​

Each Atom and Triple accrues Total Value Locked (TVL) in its vaultsβ€”a direct measure of tokenized trust. Higher TVL generally implies greater relevance or credibility.

The consensus score weighs multiple variables:

  • Amount staked on each side
  • Number of distinct attestors
  • Past reliability (reputation) of attestors
Important Distinction

Creating an Atom or Triple is distinctly different from taking a position on them. While users have the option to both create and take a position at the time of creation, the Initial Deposit is not required. A user who makes no Initial Deposit will only create an Atom or Triple, which does not constitute a Signal.

Next Steps​