park-2023-concept-ordering-determines-sign

IN premise — summaries/2026/08/24/park-2023-linear-representation-s3-finally-we-study-the-linear-representation-hypothesis.md

Created 2026-08-24T17:11:03+00:00

In Park et al. (2023), a binary concept W carries an explicit ordering (e.g., male⇒female) that determines the sign of its representation vector; reversing the order (female⇒male) negates the vector, making the sign semantically meaningful rather than arbitrary.

Summary

In the Park et al. (2023) framework, the order you list the two sides of a binary concept (say, male-then-female versus female-then-male) is not a cosmetic choice: it locks in which direction the concept's vector points, so flipping the order flips the sign. This matters because any system that treats the sign as a free or arbitrary parameter will misinterpret the concept, since the sign is doing real semantic work.