Understanding Must Remain Correctable

Correctability is the defining property of a living research system.

A system is not correctable merely because files can be edited. It is correctable when it can:

• identify the current understanding;
• show the evidence and reasoning that support it;
• receive conflicting evidence without suppressing it;
• compare alternative explanations;
• revise the current understanding;
• preserve the superseded understanding and the reason for change.

QLens therefore treats revision as part of knowledge, not as clerical history. A corrected conclusion without its revision path is less informative than it appears, because future researchers cannot see which failure was discovered or whether the same failure is returning.

Stability and correctability are not opposites. Stable identity, explicit lifecycle states, and preserved history make responsible correction possible.