Skip to content

Understanding Grounding

How to interpret confidence, contradiction, and epistemic status.

What Is Grounding?

Grounding measures how well-supported a concept is across your sources. It answers: "How much should I trust this idea?"

Unlike a simple count ("mentioned 5 times"), grounding considers: - Agreement: Do sources confirm each other? - Contradiction: Do sources disagree? - Evidence strength: How directly does source text support the concept?

The Grounding Scale

Grounding scores range from -1.0 to +1.0:

Score Range Meaning Interpretation
0.8 to 1.0 Strongly supported Multiple sources agree strongly
0.5 to 0.8 Well supported Good evidence, some sources confirm
0.2 to 0.5 Moderately supported Some evidence, room for uncertainty
-0.2 to 0.2 Mixed or insufficient Sources disagree, or too few sources
-0.5 to -0.2 Contested More contradiction than support
-1.0 to -0.5 Contradicted Strong evidence against

Reading Grounding in Practice

High Grounding (> 0.7)

Concept: "Sleep deprivation impairs memory consolidation"
Grounding: 0.85
Sources: 12

What this means: - 12 sources mention this concept - They largely agree - You can cite this with confidence

Still verify: Check the actual sources if making important decisions.

Moderate Grounding (0.3 - 0.7)

Concept: "Coffee consumption prevents heart disease"
Grounding: 0.45
Sources: 8

What this means: - Some sources support this - Evidence is mixed or qualified - Treat as "possibly true" rather than "established"

Action: Look at the evidence to understand nuances.

Low or Negative Grounding (< 0.3)

Concept: "Vitamin C cures the common cold"
Grounding: -0.15
Sources: 6

What this means: - Sources disagree significantly - Some support, some contradict - This is a contested claim

Action: Examine both sides before drawing conclusions.

How Grounding Is Calculated

Evidence Accumulation

Each time a concept appears in a source, evidence accumulates:

Document 1: "Studies confirm X..." → +evidence
Document 2: "X is well-established..." → +evidence
Document 3: "X has been demonstrated..." → +evidence

More confirming sources = higher grounding.

Contradiction Detection

When sources disagree:

Document 1: "X causes Y"
Document 2: "X does not cause Y"

Both are recorded. Grounding reflects the balance: - More support than contradiction → positive grounding - More contradiction than support → negative grounding - Equal → near-zero grounding

Relationship Strength

Not all mentions are equal. The system considers: - Direct claims vs passing mentions - Central thesis vs tangential reference - Explicit statements vs implied connections

Epistemic Status

Beyond grounding scores, concepts and relationships have epistemic status:

Status Meaning
Affirmative High grounding, well-established
Contested Significant disagreement between sources
Contradictory Strong evidence against
Historical Was accurate in its time period
Insufficient Data Too few sources to judge

Checking Epistemic Status

# See status for relationship types
kg vocabulary list --status CONTESTED

# Filter concepts by status
kg search "topic" --status AFFIRMATIVE

Working with Contradictions

Contradictions are features, not bugs. They reveal: - Where experts disagree - Evolving knowledge over time - Different perspectives or contexts

Finding Contradictions

Look for concepts with: - Grounding near 0 - Multiple sources with opposing views - Relationships marked CONTRADICTS

# Search and note low-grounding results
kg search "controversial topic"

# Get details to see both sides
kg concept details <concept-id>

Understanding Both Sides

The evidence section shows which sources support and which contradict:

Evidence:
  [+] "Research by Smith shows X is true..."
  [+] "Jones et al. confirmed that X..."
  [-] "However, Brown's study found X is false..."
  [-] "Recent work contradicts earlier findings on X..."

Making Decisions with Contradictions

  1. Count isn't everything - One rigorous study may outweigh many weak ones
  2. Check recency - Newer research may supersede older
  3. Consider context - Different conditions may explain disagreement
  4. Acknowledge uncertainty - Some questions don't have clear answers

Grounding vs. Truth

Grounding measures evidence in your knowledge base, not absolute truth.

A concept with high grounding means: - ✅ Your sources agree on this - ❌ Does NOT mean it's universally true

A concept with low grounding means: - ✅ Your sources disagree or lack evidence - ❌ Does NOT mean it's false

The quality of grounding depends on the quality of your sources.

Practical Guidelines

For Research

  • Use high-grounding concepts as established foundations
  • Investigate low-grounding concepts as areas of uncertainty
  • Document which sources you're relying on

For Decision-Making

  • Prefer high-grounding concepts for critical decisions
  • For contested topics, understand both sides before deciding
  • Be explicit about uncertainty when grounding is low

For AI Assistants

When using MCP, the AI should: - Check grounding before making claims - Caveat low-grounding information appropriately - Cite sources for important statements - Acknowledge contradictions when they exist

Improving Grounding

Add More Sources

Grounding improves with more evidence: 

kg ingest additional-sources/*.pdf --ontology research

Update with Recent Research

Newer sources may resolve old contradictions: 

kg ingest latest-study.pdf --ontology research

Separate Domains

Different ontologies can have different evidence bases: 

# Medical research has high grounding for X
kg search --ontology medical "treatment X"

# General news has low grounding for X
kg search --ontology news "treatment X"

Summary

Question Look At
"Can I trust this?" Grounding score
"Where did this come from?" Evidence section
"Do sources agree?" Grounding sign (+/-) and evidence
"How established is this?" Epistemic status
"What's the other side?" CONTRADICTS relationships

Grounding gives you the tools to reason about knowledge quality, not just knowledge content. Use it to make informed decisions about what to trust and where to dig deeper.

Next Steps