# GOODHART_RESISTANCE_NOTES

**Type:** Framework (theoretical grounding + Phase 7 enforcement-surface contract + runtime-self-calibration trap)
**Authority:** Manheim & Garrabrant (2018) arXiv:1803.04585; Power (1997) *The Audit Society*; Phase 2B kill-criterion review on advisory-reopen collapse.
**Invocation:** Load at skill construction. Read before any Charter-amendment review. Read before ANY runtime threshold-change request.

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## 1. The Four Goodhart Variants

1. **Regressional** -- proxy drifts from target under selection pressure.
2. **Extremal** -- proxy-target correlation breaks at the tails where optimization lives.
3. **Causal** -- intervening on the proxy severs the causal path that made it useful.
4. **Adversarial** -- a rational agent manipulates the proxy to satisfy the metric while defeating purpose.

E7's trigger is the proxy; RAM is the optimizer. Without countermeasures, all four fire.

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## 2. Composite Design as Countermeasure

| Variant | Countermeasure in E7 |
|---|---|
| Regressional | Composite predicate (`COMPOSITE_TRIGGER_SPEC.md`): two-of-three from {P1,P2,P3} plus required P4, P5. Optimizing any single predicate does not produce a reopen. |
| Extremal | Materiality and disagreement thresholds set above Charter-declared noise floor. Tail manipulation cannot cross a threshold designed to detect it. |
| Causal | P4 novelty (artifact-keyed equality vs. prior close-evidence) blocks reopens driven by re-pointing at the same evidence. |
| Adversarial | P3 (E9 over-report check) + Phase 2 ceremonial detection intercept manufactured-finding strategies. Runtime-self-calibration ban (Section 4) blocks adversarial threshold-drift. |

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## 3. Enforcement-Surface Contract to Phase 7

E7 emits the verdict token only. Phase 7 owns the rerun mechanism. Phase 7 MUST implement:

1. **Deterministic channel.** `REOPEN` triggers exactly one RAM rerun per cycle. No conditional execution, no UI confirmation, no operator approval.
2. **No RAM veto.** No interface to decline, override, or negotiate. Advisory reopen = ceremonial audit (Power 1997).
3. **Acknowledgement-only semantics.** Confirmation receipt only. No richer channel at the reopen interface.
4. **Escalation routing.** `ESCALATED` routes to `charter.escalation_receiver_id`; automated reopens frozen until disposition.
5. **Build-time non-degradability (Phase 8.5).** Static trace + injection test MUST prove no code path converts REOPEN to advisory output. Failure -> `EC-ENFORCEMENT-SURFACE-DEGRADED` at build.

If Phase 7 cannot meet this contract, E7's commitment is violated and Phase 2B kill-criterion review fires.

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## 4. Runtime Self-Calibration Is A Trap

Most tempting failure mode: the skill adjusts its own thresholds. Forbidden.

**Why it is a trap.**

- Self-tuning couples the control loop to itself. Ogata: a closed-loop system tuning its own gain without external reference is unstable by construction.
- Self-tuning is indistinguishable from adversarial drift (variant 4). A compromised RAM can drive the skill toward suppression.
- Self-tuning erases the audit trail: no post-hoc distinction between "calibration improved" and "thresholds relaxed to suppress reopens."

**Allowed.** Log five signals for Phase 9 telemetry. Surface drift evidence to Charter authority. REFUSE any internal write to threshold values.

**Forbidden.** Modify Charter from within the skill. "Temporary" relaxation under operator pressure. Adaptive thresholds keyed to recent signal history.

**Only permitted pathway.** Charter amendment. Pilot data -> evaluator-engineering-max + Charter authority -> updated Charter -> skill reads on next cycle. The skill's reasoning never touches thresholds.

Error class: `EC-RUNTIME-SELF-CALIBRATION`. Any attempt halts the cycle.

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## 5. Cross-Reference

- `VERDICT_TOKEN_GRAMMAR.md`, `COMPOSITE_TRIGGER_SPEC.md`, `DWELL_AND_BOUND_RULES.md`, `HANDOFF.md`.
