---
name: novelty
slug: novelty
type: cognitive_stimulant / existential_trap
status: unstable
version: 0.0.666-alpha
released: "unknown. before you. possibly before [boredom](/boredom)"
maintainer: "@the_next_thing"
dependencies:
  - pattern_recognition
  - [dopamine](/dopamine)
  - a_prior_state_to_differ_from
  - forgetting
license: BSD (Briefly Shiny, then Discarded)
tags:
  - perception
  - desire
  - entropy
  - attention
  - the_feeling_of_almost
corruption_index: high
last_stable_build: null
---

novelty

What it actually is

The cognitive delta between what you expected and what arrived, misclassified by most users as the thing itself rather than the gap.

How it works

A prior state exists. Call it S.
Something differs from S. Call it S+n.
The brain registers the difference, not the content.
dopamine releases as a prediction error signal.
You pursue more of it.
You cannot get more of it from the same source.
Return to step 1. Acquire new S.

"I thought it would feel different once I had it." Every user, every build, since 0.0.1.

The engine does not run on new things. It runs on the distance between things. This distinction has never once been read carefully in the documentation.

Features

Immediate attention capture (latency: ~80ms)
Temporary suppression of anxiety in early activation window
Compatible with almost all input types: objects, people, ideas, smells, decades, political systems
Pairs well with anticipation
Self-terminating. This is listed as a feature. It is also a bug.

Known bugs

novelty.sustain() is not implemented and never will be
Calling this.again() on the same stimulus returns undefined
Users frequently confuse novelty with meaning. No patch planned.
Deep familiarity sometimes triggers a novelty-adjacent response (see: the uncanny). Classification remains unresolved.
Race condition: novelty and nostalgia occasionally swap pointers. Output becomes indistinguishable.
In approximately 3% of sessions the spec

ERROR 0x4E4F: STIMULUS_ALREADY_INDEXED
ERROR 0x4E4F: STIMULUS_ALREADY_INDEXED
ERROR 0x52: RECURSIVE_NEWNESS_LOOP — stack depth exceeded
ERROR 0x00: source of novelty is novelty itself — halt
WARNING: the above errors are also not new

Configuration

novelty:
  threshold: adaptive       # lowers over time. always lowers.
  decay_rate: faster_than_expected
  reset_on: sleep | travel | loss | "a very long time"
  ceiling: none
  floor: 0.0               # this is called depression in some forks
  recommended_dosage: unknown
  maximum_dosage: unknown
  minimum_dosage: also unknown

Edge cases

Applied recursively to the concept of novelty itself, the function returns a paper about neophilia that nobody finishes reading.
Some users report novelty emerging from deep repetition. This is either mastery or a hallucination. The spec cannot currently tell which.
Children run novelty at full clock speed with no throttling. Adults have rate limiting enabled. Source of rate limiting: unknown. Possibly certainty.

FAQ

Q: Can I make something feel new again? A: Change yourself enough that you constitute a different prior state. This is theoretically possible.

Q: Is novelty the same as progress? A: No. Progress is novelty with a story attached afterward.

Q: Why does this spec feel slightly off? A: That is the spec working correctly.

drafting spec…