This paper defines and adjudicates the boundary case in which decisions violate Rule–State Separation (RSSA). A decision is classified as inadmissible when it cannot be unambiguously determined whether it modifies system state or system structure under recurrence. The paper formalizes the system conditions under which RSSA is mandatory and demonstrates how decisions that collapse rule and state changes become structurally non-classifiable under Ψ. No empirical examples or system narratives are provided. The paper functions exclusively as a formal judgment on a specific decision type and establishes RSSA as a non-negotiable prerequisite for structural validity. --- Intellectual Property & Licensing The KOGNETIK Research Series is released under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). All scientific works within the series may be cited, shared, and adapted for non-commercial research purposes with proper attribution. Commercial use—including consulting, advisory services, integration into commercial platforms, monetized training, certification, or system-level deployment—is not permitted under this license and requires a separate written agreement. Full license text:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ For licensing, partnerships, translations, or applied development inquiries:research@kognetik.dehttps://www.kognetik.de ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8544-4847 Kognetik Series Information KOGNETIK — Minimal Operator Definition of Reflexivity (Ψ = ∂S/∂R) Reflexivity as structural rate-of-change:Ψ = ∂S/∂R measures structural drift under recurrence. Process, not state:Reflexivity specifies a transformation rule rather than a content or level. Domain-independent operator:Applicable across biological, cognitive, artificial, social, industrial, and geophysical systems. Non-ascriptive and empirically testable:Ψ enables comparative analysis of systems via observable structure and recurrence. Higher-order phenomena as specifications:Learning, adaptation, consciousness, governance, and identity are structured regimes of Ψ.
Serkan Elbasan (Wed,) studied this question.