AIM Framework glossary
I-Override Capacity
Canonical definition
I-Override Capacity is the Individual’s context-dependent ability to successfully execute I-Override (to redirect Mimetic signals from automatic Decision Hub processing to deliberative Intrinsic Motivational scrutiny, inferring the source-attribution through manual Source-tagging before acting, routing around Source Opacity rather than restoring the destroyed tags) which varies with A-security, stress, cognitive load, training, conceptual vocabulary, and social support, and is therefore a proper target of institutional design and personal practice rather than a fixed trait.
Explanation
I-Override is a specific cognitive operation; I-Override Capacity is how often and how well a given person can actually perform it in the wild. Even highly reflective people lose this capacity under sleep deprivation, pain, fear, or when A-floors are threatened. Chronic stress, surveillance, and High-Theatre environments all push capacity down, because the Decision Hub is flooded with urgent signals and there is little slack for slow scrutiny. By contrast, secure A-floors, protected I-domains, and explicit AIM vocabulary push capacity up: people have time, safety, and concepts with which to question their own urgency. Training also matters: like any skill, I-Override becomes easier and more automatic with practice. AIM treats I-Override Capacity as a design target: justice, education, and workplace systems can be evaluated partly by whether they expand or erode typical capacity in their populations.
Epistemic status
Framework-Specific Construct.