10.5 Local reasoning and global effectivity

Reasoning is often distributed over documents, agents, experiments, model runs, or argumentative subproblems. Let \(\mathcal U_k=\{ U_i\to U\} \) be the declared cover. A local CoLT record on \(U_i\) can contain a realization \(D_{k,i}\), an obstruction, and a repair proposal. Two records are compatible when their restrictions agree on overlaps.

Compatibility alone is not global reasoning. The local states must glue to a realization in the admitted global model class, and their proposed repairs must induce a coherent global edit. Otherwise a system can produce mutually plausible local explanations that cannot all be true in one maintained model.

This distinction also governs multi-agent reasoning. Agreement among agents is neither necessary nor sufficient for truth. CoLT asks instead whether their typed evidence is compatible, whether it is effective, which disagreement survives the decision quotient, and what authority can admit a global change.