Pre-Interpretive Data II: Why Appearance Is Not Input, Signal, or Prediction

This expansion paper provides descriptive containment around the SPL-adjacent phrase “pre-interpretive data” in computational and civic contexts. It clarifies why appearance, as defined within this paper’s RC-Posture-restricted descriptive register , cannot be coherently classified as input, signal, or prediction without leaving the appearance layer and entering representational, inferential, interpretive, or functional categories. The paper introduces a local, non-evaluative status ladder—appearance, registration, account-making, representation—to reduce unmarked category drift and to clarify that input/signal/prediction belong to representation-level framing rather than appearance-level givenness. No methods, governance frameworks, ethical directives, technical proposals, or institutional critiques are introduced.