palaver-math

Dialogue and consensus mathematics for JavaScript — iterative convergence, coalition formation, and dialogue trees.

What This Does

palaver-math models group consensus as iterative convergence, inspired by West African palaver tradition. Participants hold position vectors, vote on proposals, and drift toward agreement. It detects convergence, finds coalitions, predicts consensus, and builds dialogue trees. Use it for multi-agent systems, collaborative filtering, or opinion dynamics.

The Cultural Root

See the Python version (palaver-math on PyPI) for the full cultural background. A palaver is community dialogue under a tree — no voting, just iteration until everyone agrees.

Install

npm install palaver-math

Quick Start

import {
  PalaverSession, computeCenter, consensusDistance,
  convergenceRate, isConverging,
  findCoalitions, coalitionStrength,
  buildDialogueTree, findConsensusPath,
} from "palaver-math";

const session = new PalaverSession({ threshold: 0.5, stepSize: 0.1 });
session.addParticipant([1.0, 0.0]);
session.addParticipant([0.0, 1.0]);
session.addParticipant([0.5, 0.5]);

const proposal = session.addProposal([0.4, 0.4]);
session.vote(0, proposal);

const result = session.computeConsensus();
console.log(result.consensusReached, result.center, result.rounds);

API Reference

PalaverSession

• addParticipant(position: number[]) → number
• addProposal(position: number[]) → number
• vote(participantIdx, proposalIdx) → void
• computeConsensus() → { consensusReached, center, distance, rounds, positions }
• participants() → Participant[]
• history() → number[][][]

Consensus

• computeCenter(participants) → number[]
• consensusDistance(participants) → number
• influenceWeightedCenter(participants, weights?) → number[]

Convergence

• convergenceRate(history) → number
• isConverging(history) → boolean

Coalitions

• findCoalitions(participants, threshold) → number[][]
• coalitionStrength(coalition) → number

Dialogue

• buildDialogueTree(statements) → DialogueNode
• findConsensusPath(tree) → DialogueNode[]

License

MIT