The CED paper

Abstract

We present the Category Error Detector (CED), a diagnostic instrument for identifying structural misalignment in any system defined by a fundamental tension. The CED operates on five nodes—Axes, Interface, Projection, Lagrangian, Attractors—and returns a binary score for each, yielding a coherence profile of the frame under diagnosis. Its scope condition is stated explicitly: the CED is universal over systems defined by tension, not universal without qualification. The instrument is situated at the meta level—above frames, above theories, above phenomena—where it functions as a gate: no theory should be built inside a frame that has not passed the scan. We provide two worked examples: the CED applied to itself, and the CED applied to a well-known collapsed frame. We are explicit about what the CED is not: it is not a theory of everything, not an empirical predictor, and not a replacement for domain knowledge. It is offered as a portable instrument for diagnosing and restoring coherence in systems defined by tension.