---
slug: systems-design-axiom-5
title: Systems Design: a₅ — Systems Beginning from Inherited Prejudice Cannot Reach Optimal State
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/systems-design-axiom-5
---

a₅ — Systems Beginning from Inherited Prejudice Cannot Reach Optimal State
A system that starts with false assumptions about what is distinct, what is separable, what is independent — a system that inherits the prejudices of its predecessors — cannot target the optimal state. The waterway, the aqueduct, the commons, the global downstream effect of any decision is part of its economy. If the initial conditions carry bias, the terminal output is contaminated.
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In the miscsubjects build, this axiom is not abstract. The ledger is the remedy. Every turn, every tool call, every cost is recorded. The owner can see what the system did, why it did it, and what it cost. A system without a ledger is a system that traps the actor in opacity. The build does not do this. The build makes the capable actor — itself — transparent, so the trapped actor — the owner — can verify that remedy is being provided.

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## Corpus map
- Previous: [Systems Design: a₄ — The First Assumption: Injustice Is the Base Unit ](/a/systems-design-axiom-4)
- Next: [Systems Design: a₆ — The Void State Is a Noise-Removal Operation](/a/systems-design-axiom-6)
- Series start: [Systems Design — The Premise](/a/systems-design-the-premise)
- Kin: [Law VII — The Designer](/a/oip-the-designer) · [Axioms A0-A9](/a/oip-axiom-a0)
