Anti-goal reasoning in NAL

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bowen xu

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Jul 7, 2026, 5:21:54 AM (19 hours ago) Jul 7
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Hi all,

when researching the goal-reasoning mechanisms in NARS, I found that there seems to be ambiguity on "negation of a goal". 
When NARS is pursuing a goal (that is, to realize the event), it is natural to use the rule
```
A =/> C, C! |- A!
```
(if A implies C, C is to be realized, then A is to be realized)

However what if the system is avoiding an event? For example, to avoid hurt?
In intuition, the rule seems to be
```
A =/> C, avoid C |- avoid A
```
but the current NAL does not support this rule, and I don't think designing deliberately the desire-value function of rule `A =/> C, C! |- A!` can really solve the problem.


It begins with a counter-example that reveals the ambiguity in the goal reasoning theory in NAL; after analysis, it provides a potential solution that extends NAL, following the overall methodology in the NAL book (that is, defining IL first and then extending to NAL). Four case studies are discussed:
1. Act to Realize
2. Not Act to Avoid
3. Act to Avoid
4. Not Act to Realize

I would like to hear from you if you have ever encountered the same or similar issues. Any feedback on the paper is appreciated!





David Ireland

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Jul 7, 2026, 7:34:59 PM (5 hours ago) Jul 7
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Hi Bowen, 

I had this in my version of NARS (Common Lisp and Erlang)  which was a pattern that would come up a lot in the problems I was dealing with (ethical decision making). 

  (:P (:S =/> (-- :P))
      :infer (with-terms (S)
               (substitute-with-keywords-vars `(,S) bindings))
      :finally
      (lambda (P1 P2 R)
        ;; INVERT DESIRE
        (let ((f (frequency R)))
          (setf (frequency R) (- 1 f))))
   :desire #'truth.deduction))

This rule was applied only to goals. 

I didn't give it too much thought, but anti-goal reasoning does seem under-examined in NARS. 

Thanks for the paper. I'll give it a read. 

Regards,
David


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