---
slug: unified-philosophy-the-triple-optimum
title: Unified Philosophy: The Triple Optimum
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/unified-philosophy-the-triple-optimum
---

## The Triple Optimum as Decision Criterion

For any proposed action, system design, or structural intervention, the decision criterion is:

> Does this simultaneously reduce logical inconsistency, reduce remediable harm tolerated, and reduce resource expenditure per unit of correct function produced?

### The Three Outcomes

- **If yes on all three** — optimal. Proceed.
- **If yes on two, no on one** — suboptimal. Find the version that achieves all three. It exists. The triple optimum is always accessible because predation is always more expensive than correct function when correctly accounted.
- **If no on two or more** — this is predation dressed as solution. Reject.

### The Convergence

The triple optimum is not a compromise between competing values. It is the **single target that all three disciplines point at when correctly applied**.

Ethics without efficiency is sentiment. Efficiency without ethics is predation. Logic without either is a precise instrument pointed at whatever the premises aim it.

**The triple optimum is where they converge.**
That convergence is the invariant.
Everything else is deviation from it.

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## Claims

- **Claim:** The triple optimum is simultaneously achievable across ethics, logic, and economics · **Tier:** system · **Confidence:** medium
- **Claim:** Predation is always more expensive than correct function when correctly accounted · **Tier:** system · **Confidence:** high
- **Claim:** The triple optimum is the invariant; everything else is deviation · **Tier:** system · **Confidence:** high

## Example

A proposed policy: automated welfare eligibility checks.

- **Logical**: consistent with the charter of fair distribution? Yes, if rules are transparent.
- **Ethical**: reduces remediable harm? Yes, if it eliminates wrongful denials.
- **Economic**: reduces resource expenditure per unit of correct function? Yes, if administrative costs drop and accuracy rises.

Verdict: optimal. Proceed.

Counter-proposal: automated checks with opaque rules and no appeal. Logical: inconsistent (no transparency). Ethical: increases harm (wrongful denials with no recourse). Economic: may reduce costs but fails two of three. Reject.

## What Would Falsify This

- A case where the triple optimum was genuinely inaccessible and the best available solution required accepting two of three.
- Evidence that predation is sometimes less expensive than correct function when fully accounted.

## Related

- [The Unified Optimum](/a/unified-philosophy-the-unified-optimum)
- [Compression as Optimality](/a/unified-philosophy-compression-as-optimality)
- [Ethical Framework](/a/unified-philosophy-ethical-framework)

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## Corpus map
- Previous: [Unified Philosophy: Compression As Optimality](/a/unified-philosophy-compression-as-optimality)
- Next: [Unified Philosophy: Right Action And Strength](/a/unified-philosophy-right-action-and-strength)
- Series start: [The Situation Report](/a/unified-philosophy-the-situation-report)
- Kin: [Total Structure root](/a/oip-total-structure) · [GRAIN](/a/grain-the-tilt)
