The MAMI Theory: Toward a Meta–Architecture of Mind and Invisibility in Disability, Education, and AI Ethics

Abstract

The MAMI Theory (Meta–Architecture of Mind and Invisibility) proposes a theoretical and conceptual framework for examining how epistemic, institutional, and computational systems may shape what becomes recognizable as knowledge. It focuses on forms of cognition, experience, and meaning that may become less visible when systems privilege articulation, measurement, documentation, or standardization. This paper does not report original empirical research. Instead, it develops a conceptual vocabulary for examining the relationship between visibility, knowledge, and structural exclusion. Within this framework, invisibility is treated not simply as absence, but as a possible structural condition whose emergence and persistence may be influenced by epistemic design. The paper introduces the Epistemic Collapse Matrix (ECM) as a proposed analytic heuristic for organizing possible patterns of omission, rejection, and overreaction. It also presents the Invisible Retention Rate (IRR) as a candidate formalization for future investigation. Neither the ECM nor the IRR has yet been empirically evaluated or validated. Finally, the paper develops Architectural Ethics as a normative conceptual proposal concerning responsibility at the level of epistemic, institutional, and technical design. The framework is offered as a conceptual proposal requiring further theoretical comparison, ethical scrutiny, and empirical investigation of its descriptive and operational claims.