Consent Mechanics
Formal theory of consent-holding in multi-agent systems. When can delegation be legitimate? What are the structural conditions for valid consent? How do we measure consent deficits?
Scope, governance, and strategic direction for Dissensus Ltd, the UK research company behind the Adversarial Systems & Complexity Research Initiative.
Dissensus is a UK-based governance alignment research lab, incorporated as a private limited company in England and Wales (company no. 17309927). It focuses on adversarial systems (investigated through the Adversarial Systems & Complexity Research Initiative, ASCRI): any sufficiently complex dynamic network of agents where equilibria are impossible to reach due to formalised friction constraints. These systems function merely through a reduction of friction and are thus adversarial against themselves, yet persist through dissensus.
We formalise the mechanics of friction: not to eliminate it (friction is the cost of existence in an adversarial environment) but to measure it. To make visible the invisible taxes that coordination imposes. To quantify the legitimacy deficits that traditional political theory only gestures towards.
In any system containing two or more optimising agents, action requires delegation, delegation produces friction, and friction has measurable stakes.
Dissensus Ltd is a private limited company registered in England and Wales (company no. 17309927) under the Companies Act 2006. Its research programme is carried out through ASCRI, with publications hosted here on dissensus.ai.
Dissensus conducts theoretical and empirical research on friction dynamics across substrates:
Formal theory of consent-holding in multi-agent systems. When can delegation be legitimate? What are the structural conditions for valid consent? How do we measure consent deficits?
Substrate-independent criteria for moral status. If an AI system meets functional criteria for consent-giving, what follows? The genre mimicry hypothesis.
Derivatives as simultaneously remedy and poison. The hedging paradox: when risk management becomes wealth transfer infrastructure. Market microstructure as friction measurement.
Empirical validation of friction dynamics. Why do infrastructure failures move markets more than regulatory announcements? The enforcement capacity hypothesis.
Unifying Framework: the Replicator-Optimization Mechanism (ROM), a computational framework for self-replicating, optimisation-executing systems across physical and abstract substrates.
Dissensus pursues a dual mandate: advancing fundamental research through the Adversarial Systems & Complexity Research Initiative (ASCRI) while developing commercial applications of friction analysis methodology. The strategic priorities include:
We are not interested in corporate alignment theatre or sterile academic consensus. We are interested in the mechanics of friction, the invisible taxes that coordination imposes, the structural inequities that emerge from unexamined delegation.
The goal is not to be right; it’s to be less wrong, faster.
All research outputs comply with OpenAIRE Guidelines and FAIR data principles:
Dissensus Ltd is governed by its articles of association under the UK Companies Act 2006. Murad Farzulla serves as founder and sole director, responsible for research direction, strategy, and operations.
As the company grows, governance structures will evolve to reflect the scope of operations while maintaining research independence and methodological rigour.
Dissensus Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17309927. Registered office: 9d, 88 South Park Studios, Peterborough Road, London SW6 3HH. All research outputs are disseminated through open access channels.
Accepting collaboration proposals.