A feedback-loop is a control mechanism where a system's output is routed back as input, enabling the system to adjust its behavior based on past performance. The loop operates through four components: (1) a sensor or detector that measures the current output, (2) a comparator that evaluates the measured output against a reference or goal, (3) a controller that computes corrective action, and (4) an actuator that applies the correction. The persistence mechanism is the loop's structural recording — via wiring, code, procedures, or social norms — that carries the output signal back to the input across time. [formal: feedback loop | substrate: behavior | horizon: hours | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.40]
Accepted ontology entry
feedback-loop
A feedback-loop is a control mechanism where a system's output is routed back as input, enabling the system to adjust its behavior based on past performance. The loop operates through four components: (1) a sensor or detector that measures…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A feedback-loop is a human-made control mechanism in which the output of a process is routed back as input, enabling the system to self-correct and maintain or change its behavior over time. It is built to persist through recording, transmission, and institutionalization of the loop structure.
Names and aliases
- feedback-loopen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrf51qwi005rcqqtmpyziy84DEPENDS_ON →
Removal test per Law 8/8b: remove memory and feedback-loops cease to operate — they require carrying output information across time back to the input. Without memory there is no past state to compare against, no record to close the loop. This is a constitutive dependency, not merely sayable: a system without memory cannot implement feedback regardless of whether the word exists.
- cmrxzhvsd04jisoache9or7mkSERVES →
Feedback loops are designed and maintained to regulate systems — sensing deviation and correcting course. Self-regulation is the master purpose; feedback loops are the servant mechanism. Per Law 8d: remove the feedback loop and self-regulation (as an active process) stops operating. The servant→master direction is correct.
Relations to this entry
- cmrqi0oyz09fkd1nlgdzvce30← INSTANCE_OF
Self-testing is a specific mechanism where one generates test questions about one's own knowledge and checks answers — output feeds back as input. It is a specific kind of feedback-loop applied to one's own learning state.
- cmrwhqrf2007osoac9e2zg5hc← INSTANCE_OF
A network effect IS a specific kind of feedback loop: the adoption of a product or service by users increases its value, which attracts more users, creating a positive feedback cycle. The network effect is the instance; feedback-loop is the general mechanism.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 23, 2026, 10:15 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 19d10a3abf47dedf99dcbcb8c633d1f50be143babff5d324adf03ed864c2aecf