# Navigating the Conceptual Multiverse

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.17815 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.17815/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 0 of its 165 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 20 Apr 2026.

## Abstract (arXiv)

When language models answer open-ended questions, they implicitly make decisions that shape their answers. However, the models do not show these decisions to the user, so users cannot contextualize answers: they cannot see the assumptions an answer rests on or the alternatives to it. Drawing on multiverse analysis from statistics, we introduce the conceptual multiverse, a representation in which language models express answers as the result of intermediate conceptual decisions. We build a system that generates such decisions explicitly, organizes them into a space of answers that users can see and change, and checks them against the norms of a specific domain. In a user study across three domains - philosophy, AI alignment annotation, and poetry - participants say that our system helps them see the decisions leading to an answer, explore the space of answers, and understand the decisions structuring this space.