Bearings

A Bearing is a connection from one or more source Points to a target. The target can be a Point or another Bearing. For example, a reason can support a Claim, and an Objection can challenge that supporting step.

Choosing a connection records how you read or present the material. It does not certify that the reason is sufficient or the objection succeeds.

Connections from indentation

- [C] The service needs inspection.
  - [G] Two independent retries timed out.
  - [O] The failures may have been transient.
    - [R] The same failure recurred this morning.

The Ground supports the Claim, the Objection challenges it, and the Response responds to the Objection. The child’s mark selects the relation; indentation supplies the nearest enclosing Point:

The enclosing Point’s mark does not change these rules. For example, R beneath a Question responds to that Question. Ordinary body can supply context between them; an intervening Point becomes the nearer target.

Argument structures

Three common arrangements help distinguish how reasons are being used:

These are structures made from Points and Bearings, rather than three kinds of Point or three judgments of strength.

Convergent: separate reasons

- [C] Inspect the valve.
  - [G] It is leaking.
  - [G] Its inspection is overdue.

Each Ground has its own supporting Bearing. Recording one reason does not require the other to participate in the same step. This says how the reasons are offered, without asserting that either is enough on its own.

Linked: joint reasons

For a Linked structure, use one [_ +> ^] header with neutral source Points:

- [C] Inspect the valve under the maintenance rule.
  - [_ +> ^] Apply the rule to this valve.
    - [.] Every leaking valve requires inspection under the rule.
    - [.] This valve is leaking.

The header constructs one supporting Bearing. Its direct [.] children supply the sources together; they do not create separate supporting steps. The words after [_ +> ^] describe that connection without adding another Point.

The same constructor permits a single source. It is still a complete Bearing; the source count does not tell us whether the author has finished. The local construction reference covers other relation roles and member restrictions.

Serial: a reason for a reason

- [C] The incident needs investigation.
  - [G] The timeouts are reproducible.
    - [G] Two independent retries failed in the same way.

The observation supports reproducibility, which in turn supports investigating the incident. Keep the intermediate Point: it is the target of one step and a source in the next. Ordinary nesting expresses the chain without a serial keyword or an automatically added shortcut.

These structures can combine. Two joint routes can converge on one conclusion, and a conclusion from one route can become a premise in another. Adding a premise or an intermediate step changes the reconstruction; see reconstruction choices for worked comparisons.

Explicit connections

Name a target when the connection should not depend on placement:

- [C @inspection] Inspect the valve.
- [G +> @inspection] It is leaking.
- [O -> @inspection] The sensor may be misreading.

A clause on a Point uses that Point as its source. To connect existing Points, put their names in a Bearing constructor:

- [. @rule] Every leaking valve requires inspection under the rule.
- [. @leak] This valve is leaking.
- [C @inspection] Inspect the valve under the maintenance rule.
- [_ @rule, @leak +> @inspection] Apply the rule to this valve.

This is the same Linked arrangement as the local joint example. The explicit version names its sources and target, so their positions do not supply the connection. Use the form that makes your note easier to read and revise.

Assess a local attachment

A Ground presents two things: its content and the step by which that content supports something else. Use O to object to its content, or O/ to object to its local supporting step:

- [C] The library should stay open until eight on weekdays.
  - [G] Forty people visited after six at last month's evening event.
    - [O] The count included repeat entries, so fewer than forty people may have visited.
    - [O/] People may have come for the special event, not for ordinary evening opening.

The first Objection challenges the attendance count. The second questions what that attendance tells us about ordinary evenings. Neither removes the original support or records that it has failed.

Ask about a step

Q/ records a question concerning that local step, without supporting or challenging it. Its relation is concerns, as for bare Q, which concerns the nearest Point instead. See the selector reference for examples, reuse and the distinction from explicit operators.

Naming routes

Name a Bearing when another passage needs to refer to that particular connection. The semicolon introduces its name:

- [C @safe] The bridge is safe.
  - [G; @inspection-step] Yesterday's inspection found no defects.
- [O -> @inspection-step] The inspection omitted the underside.

@inspection-step identifies the Bearing, not the Ground’s content. The Objection targets that inspection step. The anonymous Ground is still a Point; use [G @inspection; @inspection-step] if both need names.

Describe a locally created step with [_ note] when the explanation should remain supplementary:

- [C] The pump may explain the outbreak.
  - [G] Most cases are nearby.
    - [_ note] Proximity may reflect access to this water supply.

The note adds no premise or supporting relation. If the passage itself offers a further reason, make it a Point and choose the intended connection. The selector reference compares a note, an added joint premise and a reason for the step.

Further reference

The complete syntax lists every relation, target restriction and alternative spelling. Joint relevance covers sources that concern a target together. For content, naming and reuse, see Points; for preserving the original author’s commitments, see writing style.