AIM Framework glossary
Reciprocal Valuation Property
Canonical definition
The Reciprocal Valuation Property is the structural feature that distinguishes Individual-as-Object from all other Object-types: the Object is also a valuing subject operating the same Decision Hub architecture as the observer. This reciprocity produces four consequences unavailable in non-reciprocating Object-types: (1) Entanglement, because both parties are simultaneously assigning and receiving valuations containing A, I, and PM components in continuous recursive constitution; (2) differential extraction, because both parties assign PM to each other and the net PM transfer is the differential between the two PM-components; (3) non-purchasability of Status, because Status exists only within other valuing subjects' Decision Hubs and cannot be acquired as an Object; and (4) self-reinforcement of Status-PM, because the Objects that constitute an Individual's Status-PM are themselves valuing subjects whose PM-valuations are influenced by other valuing subjects' PM-valuations through mimetic transmission. The pathological dynamics (compounding, non-satiation, parasitic extraction) attach specifically to the PM-component of reciprocal valuation. The A and I components of reciprocal valuation are non-pathological: A-valuation satiates when the functional need is met, and I-valuation deepens without producing rivalry. A and I valuations are structurally incapable of overvaluing their Objects because they are tethered to real conditions (deficit states and process-engagement states respectively) whose resolution attenuates the signal. Only PM-valuation is decoupled from any real condition, permitting unbounded inflation. In a PM-free dyadic interaction, both parties value each other precisely in proportion to real A-need and real I-engagement. No extraction occurs because no inflation occurs. Extraction begins if and only if PM enters the reciprocal valuation.
Explanation
A house cannot value you back. A person can. That single difference is why Status works differently from every other form of value assignment. When PM attaches to a house, it inflates the price and that is the end of it. When PM attaches to a person, that person is also assigning value to you and to everyone else, and everyone else's assignments are influenced by yours, which is influenced by theirs. The whole thing loops. But only the PM-part of the loop is pathological, because only PM can inflate beyond what is real. When a community of tradspeople value each other for genuine skill and reliability, the loop produces healthy mutual recognition, not extraction. It is when the PM-component enters the loop that compounding, non-satiation, and parasitic extraction begin.
Epistemic status
Framework-Specific Construct. Derived from Individual-as-Object Principle, Object definition, Common-Currency Integration (Axiom 2), Source Opacity (Axiom 3), Differential Satiation (Axiom 6).