{
  "handle": "SelfConsistency",
  "mechanism": "A variance-reduction technique where the same query is processed N times independently (with temperature > 0), producing N candidate answers. The final answer is selected by majority {{aggregate}} (Mode). Exploits the intuition that correct reasoning paths are more likely to converge on the same answer than incorrect ones. It aggregates multiple reasoning paths via {{aggregate}} to determine the most robust answer.",
  "gloss": "Sample multiple reasoning chains, select by majority",
  "failure_modes": [
    "Consistent Wrongness: All N samples converge on the same incorrect answer (systematic bias).",
    "Cost Explosion: N samples means N times the compute cost."
  ],
  "invariants": [
    "Aggregation: Final answer determined by plurality or weighted aggregation",
    "Independence: Each sample must be generated without knowledge of others",
    "N >= 3: Minimum samples for meaningful convergence"
  ],
  "_meta": {
    "tier": 2,
    "ring": 2,
    "supersedes": [
      "sema:SelfConsistency#mh:SHA-256:543df3dae7e7343a60ce588b0dac22883ec50c8ae0816ea6b25cb697f238cd7d",
      "sema:SelfConsistency#mh:SHA-256:2095d12c9020575e57fc798f2f5b9d0a112bc8827e2c015e0d894a456427efbd",
      "sema:SelfConsistency#mh:SHA-256:a1cdf8b8b168783be68ae86cda126d7518a53f01a758a6a0df486f3cf0e7d9af"
    ],
    "path": [
      "Mind",
      "Reasoning"
    ],
    "related": [
      "EvidenceDependence"
    ]
  },
  "sema_id": "sema:SelfConsistency#mh:SHA-256:4f68cebc4f82197975d6098701b0431bafb1e79792d19cb69a8d9dbad5036b8a",
  "sema_ref": "SelfConsistency#4f68",
  "sema_stub": "4f68",
  "dependencies": {
    "references": {
      "aggregate": "sema:Aggregate#mh:SHA-256:2db6858c061515fa2257c96f4a6e4392164e9a118adc6874c69cf2279b877077"
    }
  },
  "sema_layer": "Mind",
  "sema_category": "Reasoning",
  "used_by": {}
}