Primitives Overview
Intuition's data model is built on three fundamental primitives that work together to create a rich, self-regulating knowledge graph:
🔷 Atoms
The basic entities or identifiers - unique decentralized identifiers for everything in existence. Think of them as the nodes in the knowledge graph, or the words in the dictionary.
🔗 Triples
Structured relationships or claims linking entities together in Subject-Predicate-Object format. These are the edges in the knowledge graph / the sentences in the language of Intuition.
📊 Signals
The weight of trust or consensus behind each entity or claim, determined by community staking. These represent the edge weights in the graph, or 'who is saying what about what, with what level of conviction'.
The Three Primitives Explained
🔷 Atoms: Universal Identifiers for Everything
An Atom is a unique decentralized identifier that can reference literally anything – from people and organizations to concepts, data points, or even raw bytes of information. Each Atom acts as a globally referenceable identity in the Intuition system, with an on-chain ID that serves as its permanent, verifiable address.
Unlike traditional identifiers that are limited to URIs or specific data formats, Atoms can point to arbitrary data (bytes). This means an Atom can reference:
- Raw strings: Direct text like "Alice", "is friend of", or "2024-01-15"
- URIs: Web pages, IPFS hashes, blockchain addresses
- Binary data: Images, documents, encrypted content
- Structured data: JSON objects, protocol buffers, or any serialized format
- Abstract concepts: Ideas, emotions, or theoretical constructs
Real-World Atom Examples
Person Atom
Atom ID: 0x123...
Data: "alice.eth" (ENS name as raw string)
Concept Atom
Atom ID: 0x456...
Data: "trustworthy" (abstract quality)
Data Hash Atom
Atom ID: 0x789...
Data: 0xabcd...ef12 (IPFS content hash as bytes)
Date Atom
Atom ID: 0xabc...
Data: "2024-01-15T09:00:00Z" (ISO timestamp)
Smart Contract Atom
Atom ID: 0xdef...
Data: 0x742d35...8930 (Ethereum contract address)
Atoms are sometimes called "identities" in the protocol because they give any entity – whether tangible or abstract – a persistent, verifiable digital identity that can be referenced and validated by anyone in the network.
🔗 Triples: Expressing Relationships as Claims
A Triple is a structured claim that follows the semantic format of [Subject] – [Predicate] – [Object], where each component is itself an Atom. This creates a precise, machine-readable way to express facts, relationships, and assertions about the world.
Example Triple Structures
🤝 Social Relationship
[Alice] — [is friend of] — [Bob]Each component is an Atom with its own ID, creating a verifiable claim about friendship.
🎓 Professional Credential
[Dr. Smith] — [has degree] — [Harvard Medical School]Expressing educational credentials as structured data.
🔗 Smart Contract Deployment
[UniswapV3] — [was deployed on] — [2021-05-05]Recording blockchain events as semantic relationships.
⭐ Product Rating
[iPhone 15] — [has rating] — [4.5 stars]Capturing user sentiment and product quality metrics.
Triples can reference other Triples as Atoms, enabling arbitrarily complex statements. For example:
[[Alice is friend of Bob]] — [was established on] — [2024-01-01]
This meta-claim adds temporal context to the friendship relationship.
In many contexts, Triples are also referred to as Claims or Attestations because they represent assertions that can be verified, disputed, or supported by the community.
📊 Signals: Quantified Trust Through Staking
Signal represents the aggregated attestation state of an Atom or Triple – essentially, how much the community trusts or believes in that piece of information. Signal is generated through economic staking, where users deposit tokens (like $TRUST) into an entity's vault to express their conviction.
Positive Signal
Users stake tokens to support an Atom or Triple, indicating they believe it's true, valuable, or important.
Counter Signal
Users can stake against claims they disagree with, creating a market for truth discovery.
Dynamic Updates
Signal changes in real-time as users stake, withdraw, or shift their positions, creating a living consensus.
How Signal Works
- Staking Mechanism: Users deposit tokens into Atom or Triple vaults
- Weight Calculation: More stake = stronger signal of trust/importance
- Relative Comparison: Signal strength is evaluated relative to alternatives
- Economic Incentives: Stakers earn fees from future deposits, encouraging early and accurate signaling
Creating an Atom or Triple is different from signaling support for it. Creation alone doesn't constitute a Signal – only staking tokens does. A user can create an entity without staking, leaving it with zero initial Signal.
How the Primitives Work Together
The true power of Intuition emerges when these three primitives interact:
Many-to-One Attestations
Unlike traditional systems where a single authority issues certificates or attestations, Intuition enables many-to-one non-deterministic attestations:
Any number of users can signal their belief in an Atom or Triple
The aggregate Signal determines the community's confidence level
Truth emerges from collective validation, not central authority
Attestations can change over time as new information emerges
Example: Building a Reputation Graph
Consider how these primitives combine to create a decentralized reputation system:
In this example:
- Atoms define the entities (Alice, developer, React)
- Triples express relationships (Alice is a developer, Alice knows React)
- Signals quantify community confidence (1000 TRUST backs the developer claim)
Key Benefits of This Architecture
🌐 Universal Composability
Any data type can become an Atom, and any relationship can be expressed as a Triple, creating infinite possibilities for knowledge representation.
🔄 Self-Regulating Truth
Economic incentives through Signal staking create a market for truth, where accurate information naturally accumulates more support.
🤝 Interoperability
Standardized semantic structure enables different applications to understand and build upon the same knowledge graph.
📈 Progressive Trust
Trust isn't binary – it's a spectrum measured by Signal strength, allowing for nuanced representation of confidence and belief.
Getting Started with Primitives
To begin working with Intuition's primitives, consider these pathways:
For Developers
- Create Atoms for entities in your domain (users, products, concepts)
- Define Triples to express relationships between those entities
- Monitor Signals to understand community consensus
- Build applications that leverage the knowledge graph
For Users
- Discover existing Atoms relevant to your interests
- Stake on Triples you believe are true or important
- Create new Claims to contribute knowledge
- Earn rewards from successful early signaling
For Data Scientists
- Analyze Signal patterns to identify emerging truths
- Query the Triple graph for relationship insights
- Track Atom evolution over time
- Build prediction models based on Signal dynamics
The beauty of Intuition's primitives lies in their simplicity and composability. Three simple concepts – Atoms, Triples, and Signals – combine to create a powerful system for decentralized knowledge and trust.