[E-Lang] Authority -- what is its dual?

[Norman Hardy]

At 15:15 +0100 01/10/17, Mark Seaborn wrote:
>As I understand it, authority is defined as the ability to influence
>the world.  Sensory capabilities are then regarded as not conveying
>authority.  Information in general is also regarded as not conveying
>authority.

I have viewed the ability to sense as a kind of authority, but perhaps
in practice "authority" usually refers to the stronger sorts of abilities.
A term for for 'the ability to effect' would be useful.

>(This seems to assume a strong capability system, and ignore synergy
>effects, so that if a chunk of information or a sensory capability is
>used with another capability to unlock some new authority, this
>authority is regarded as being conveyed by this latter capability and
>not by the information or sensory capability.  I'm happy with this
>view, though I'd like to check whether others share it.)

I come to the same conclusion arguing from the transformation
that defines synergy away.
{<http://cap-lore.com/CapTheory/Synergy.html#safe>

>A consequence is that a capability to find out the current time
>doesn't carry authority (so `authority to read the clock' is
>oxymoronic).  But it is good design to deny programs access to sources
>of non-determinism when they don't need them.  Similarly, in general
>we don't want to give a program access to libraries it doesn't need,
>because those libraries might influence its behaviour, leading to
>changes in behaviour that are hard to pin down when we change those
>libraries.

We considered libraries in Keykos to be immutable; new editions were viewed
as new objects, with keys thereto in a conventional permanent slot perhaps.

My note on insulating environments at <http://cap-lore.com/CapTheory/term.html>
orthogonally disects environments twice, into four kinds:
   limiting inflow vs. limiting outflow of information,
   enforced by internal logic vs. imposed by an external force.
some of your distinctions appear there.
The terms I propose there have no currency.

-- 
Norman Hardy  <http://cap-lore.com/>