discourse/docs/GLOSSARY.md

The Data Lifecycle

1. Raw Submission: Users submit their individual opinions or viewpoints on an issue, stored off-chain on IPFS.
2. Processing: These submissions are analyzed and refined—possibly by AI—to merge similar ideas, remove duplicates, and weight them by public opinion.
3. Refined Output: The processed data yields key themes or popular ideas derived from the submissions.
4. Community Validation: The community evaluates and votes on these outputs to determine which ones best represent the collective view.
5. Accepted Input: Validated outputs are accepted as meaningful contributions to the final result.
6. Final Result: The contributions are compiled into an actionable outcome that informs legislation or decision-making.

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Glossary of Terminology

• Perspective
  Definition: The raw, unprocessed submission of a user’s opinion or viewpoint on a specific issue or piece of legislation, stored off-chain (on IPFS).

• Synthesis
  Definition: The analytical process, often AI-driven, that refines and combines multiple perspectives into coherent insights. This involves merging similar ideas, removing duplicates, and weighting perspectives based on public opinion or voting.

• Insight
  Definition: A refined and aggregated summary derived from one or more perspectives, representing common themes, popular ideas, or key takeaways that emerge from the synthesis process.

• Consensus
  Definition: The community’s collective evaluation, voting, or endorsement of specific insights, determining which ones are most valuable, accurate, or representative of public opinion.

• Contribution
  Definition: An insight that has been validated through consensus and accepted by the community as a meaningful input for the final decision-making process. Contributions are the building blocks of the project’s output.

• Resolution
  Definition: The conclusive result or output, derived from the contributions, that is used to inform legislation, policy, or other decision-making processes. This is the final, actionable outcome of the project.

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How It All Fits Together

1. Perspective: A user submits their raw opinion on a proposed law (e.g., "I think taxes should fund more public parks"), stored on IPFS.
2. Synthesis: AI analyzes hundreds of perspectives, merging similar ones (e.g., park funding ideas), removing duplicates, and weighting them by frequency of mentions, producing insights.
3. Insight: An insight emerges (e.g., "Most users support increased park funding as a tax priority").
4. Consensus: The community votes, agreeing that this insight reflects the public’s view.
5. Contribution: The validated insight becomes a contribution, accepted as a key input.
6. Resolution: Contributions are compiled into a resolution (e.g., "Recommend tax allocation for parks"), sent to policymakers.