Kontinualselt

Kontinualselt is a fictional term used in speculative writing and thought experiments to describe a process of ongoing self-optimization in agents. The word appears to blend continual or continuous with elements drawn from self-reflection, and it is not tied to any formal etymology outside fiction or hobbyist discourse.

In its typical use, kontinualselt refers to a mode of operation where an agent—human or artificial—performs continual self-evaluation and adjustment of goals and actions in response to changing conditions, with emphasis on meta-cognition and reflexive learning. It is not identical to the machine learning concept of continual learning; rather, it denotes a broader, value-oriented process of maintaining self-consistency amid flux and uncertainty.

Kontinualselt is employed in science fiction to explore questions of governance, ethics, and organizational design, as well as in philosophical debates about autonomy, control, and the limits of adaptability. In speculative essays, it is often treated as a thought experiment about how agents could align long-term values with evolving environments.

Variants and spellings of the term have appeared in online writings and community-driven projects, including alternate spellings such as kontinualselt or kontinual-selt. There is no peer-reviewed literature documenting kontinualselt; references occur primarily in fan wikis, forums, and speculative anthologies.

See also: continual learning, self-regulation, cybernetics, philosophy of mind.