In 1666, Leibniz proposed the characteristica universalis: a notation expressing any human knowledge unambiguously, compositionally, and language-neutrally. Every subsequent attempt failed for the same reason: no reader could simultaneously handle formal structure at arbitrary complexity and understand natural language content across all human languages. We identify this as the necessary and sufficient condition for a solution. The emergence of capable AI systems (~2024) satisfies this condition…
Read moreIn 1666, Leibniz proposed the characteristica universalis: a notation expressing any human knowledge unambiguously, compositionally, and language-neutrally. Every subsequent attempt failed for the same reason: no reader could simultaneously handle formal structure at arbitrary complexity and understand natural language content across all human languages. We identify this as the necessary and sufficient condition for a solution. The emergence of capable AI systems (~2024) satisfies this condition. We present Lingenic: a host notation embedding extensible formal systems, from propositional logic to dependent type theory, with natural language content carried unmodified at native semantic grain. Lingenic satisfies Leibniz's requirements. The calculus ratiocinator is out of scope: Lingenic addresses notation only; the reader supplies reasoning. This document is written in Lingenic. A notation discharges its claim by demonstrating validity within its own formalism. The abstract is an English rendering; the argument is in the notation.
