1. Short Definition

Cross-Scale Coherence Test evaluates whether local gains preserve or improve whole-system coherence.

A local improvement fails the test if it depends on exporting burden, suppressing visibility, damaging boundaries, or increasing hidden debt elsewhere.

2. Canonical Pattern

O_local↑ + O_global↓ ⇒ failed scaling

Expanded:

local success / repair / optimization↑
+
whole-system coherence↓
or
downstream burden↑
⇒ cross-scale incoherence

Plain form:

Local success must not degrade the larger field.

3. Mechanic Description

SCALE-079 provides the direct diagnostic counterpart to Local-Global Divergence and U6 Field Coherence Scaling.

A system may pass local tests while failing cross-scale coherence.

Examples:

• A department improves metrics by burdening another department.
• An AI feature improves user engagement while reducing meaning integrity or auditability.
• A medical intervention improves a marker while weakening recovery capacity.
• A security policy reduces incidents locally while damaging trust globally.
• An economy grows locally while exporting ecological or labor debt.
• A governance reform improves compliance while reducing legitimacy.
• A platform improves speed while increasing appeal burden downstream.

The Cross-Scale Coherence Test asks whether the apparent success still holds when measured across:

• local nodes
• downstream nodes
• upstream causes
• affected populations
• adjacent domains
• hidden labor
• future maintenance
• recurrence cycles
• environmental effects
• whole-system coherence

This test prevents local optimization from masquerading as scaling success.

It is especially important in large systems where local metrics are easier to capture than global coherence.

4. UTS Variable Mapping

5. Diagnostic Questions

1. What local gain is being claimed?
2. What happens downstream?
3. What happens upstream?
4. What happens to adjacent domains?
5. What happens over time?
6. Is hidden debt reduced or exported?
7. Do affected nodes lose slack?
8. Does recurrence decrease globally?
9. Does auditability improve across scale?
10. Would the local gain remain valid if all costs were internalized?

6. Failure Signatures

1. Local Gain, Global Loss

O_local↑ while O_global↓

The local system improves while whole-system coherence declines.

2. Downstream Burden Increase

local success↑ + burden_downstream↑

Local gains shift costs elsewhere.

3. Future Debt Increase

local optimization↑ + H_future↑

Current success creates future repair burden.

4. Cross-Scale Audit Gap

Au_local↑ while Au_cross_scale↓

The local system is inspectable, but its wider effects are not.

5. Local Repair, Global Recurrence

R_local↑ while τ_m_global↑

Local repair does not change the repeating global pattern.

7. Related Failure Modes

• local-global divergence
• local optimization failure
• stress transfer
• hidden debt export
• downstream repair overload
• future debt accumulation
• pseudo-scaling
• pseudo-restoration
• metric localization
• silent extraction
• cross-scale audit failure

8. Related Diagnostics

9. Restoration Implications

If SCALE-079 fails, restoration requires cross-scale reconciliation.

Required actions:

1. Treat local success as provisional.
2. Map downstream, upstream, adjacent, and future effects.
3. Identify exported hidden debt.
4. Restore cross-scale auditability.
5. Rebalance burden across the system.
6. Protect downstream slack.
7. Internalize costs where appropriate.
8. Align local metrics with global coherence.
9. Validate recurrence reduction globally.
10. Declare scaling success only after cross-scale coherence holds.

Core restoration rule:

Local success must survive global accounting.

10. Compact Registry Entry

id: SCALE-079
name: "Cross-Scale Coherence Test"
family: "SCALE-M — Scaling Diagnostics and Tests"
type: "local-global-validation-test"
status: "draft-ready"
short_definition: "Cross-Scale Coherence Test evaluates whether local gains preserve or improve whole-system coherence."
canonical_pattern: "O_local↑ + O_global↓ ⇒ failed scaling"
failure_signature: "local success/repair/optimization↑ + whole-system coherence↓ or downstream burden↑ ⇒ cross-scale incoherence"
primary_variables:
  - O
  - H
  - ε
  - ι
  - Au
  - µᵢ
  - BΣ
  - K
  - R
  - Φ
primary_diagnostics:
  - O_local
  - O_global
  - H_export
  - H_future
  - burden_downstream
  - K_downstream
  - Au_cross_scale
  - R_global
  - τ_m_global
  - affected_node_cost
  - Φ_local
related_failure_modes:
  - local_global_divergence
  - local_optimization_failure
  - stress_transfer
  - hidden_debt_export
  - downstream_repair_overload
  - future_debt_accumulation
  - pseudo_scaling
  - pseudo_restoration
  - metric_localization
restoration_implication: "Map cross-scale effects, identify exported debt, restore cross-scale auditability, protect downstream slack, internalize costs, align local metrics with global coherence, and validate global recurrence reduction."

11. One-Line Canon

A local gain is not coherent scaling unless it survives whole-system accounting.