Composition of Active Experiences and Function
How Core Emotion Framework operators combine to generate lived experiences and functional emotional processes.
Overview
The Core Emotion Framework (CEF) defines ten core operators that describe how the human system processes, organizes,
and transforms emotional information. While each operator can be understood on its own, our lived experience is
composed of combinations of these operators acting together over time.
This page describes the composition of active experiences: how operators interact, how functional
patterns emerge, and how common emotional states can be understood as specific configurations of the CEF operators.
For the canonical operator list and full definitions, see the
Core Emotion Framework overview
.
Operators as components of experience
In the CEF, each operator (for example, Sensing, Calculating, Deciding, Expanding, Constricting, Achieving,
Arranging, Appreciating, Boosting, Accepting) can be treated as a functional component of experience.
At any given moment, your emotional state reflects a particular configuration of these components: some are more
active, some are quieter, and some are temporarily dominant.
This allows us to describe experiences not as vague labels, but as structured compositions of
operator activity. Instead of saying “I feel bad” or “I feel good,” we can describe which processes are active:
for example, strong Constricting and Arranging with moderate Sensing and low Expanding.
From operators to a functional lexicon
To apply the framework in practice, we map familiar emotion words (such as anger, joy, fear, sadness, love, etc.)
to underlying operator patterns. Each word corresponds to:
- A functional definition in terms of process and function.
- A symbolic composition of operators (for example, Constricting + Boosting + Arranging).
- A numeric vector that represents the relative activation of each of the ten operators.
- Metadata such as valence and arousal, where useful for modeling.
These mappings are collected in a machine-readable lexicon file:
EL1_v1.0.json. This file allows software
systems, models, and analytical tools to work directly with CEF-aligned representations of common emotion words.
Example: Composed experiences
Below are conceptual examples of how familiar emotional states can be understood as compositions of CEF operators.
These are illustrative and are grounded in the functional logic of the framework, not in folk-psychology labels.
Anger as boundary enforcement
Anger can be modeled as a state of boundary enforcement and energized resistance to perceived
obstruction or injustice. Functionally, it often involves:
- Constricting: tightening boundaries and narrowing focus on the perceived violation.
- Boosting: mobilizing energy for action and enforcement.
- Arranging: organizing a stance, position, or response to the boundary breach.
- Sensing: detecting signals that something feels “not okay” or out of line.
In the lexicon, this shows up as a pattern of higher activation in these operators relative to others.
Joy as energized connection
Joy can be modeled as a state of energized positive engagement, openness, and appreciative
connection to experience. Functionally, it often involves:
- Expanding: openness to experience, other people, and possibilities.
- Appreciating: recognizing and enjoying what is present.
- Boosting: increased energy and activation supporting engagement.
- Accepting: allowing the experience to be as it is, without resistance.
- Sensing: heightened awareness of internal and external cues of well-being.
Applications of compositional modeling
By working with composed experiences rather than isolated labels, the CEF supports:
- Personal awareness: understanding which operators are active in a given situation.
- Coaching and education: teaching people to recognize processes rather than pathologize states.
- Design and research: building applications that track and work with operator patterns over time.
- AI integration: enabling models to map between natural language and structured operator vectors.
For deeper technical use, developers and researchers can integrate the
EL1_v1.0.json lexicon
as a lookup table or embedding space aligned with the Core Emotion Framework.
Next steps
For related materials:
