A clade is a group of cladists all descended from a single uploaded consciousness. The original root instance may fork to allow those new instances to lead lives of their own, individuating as they will.
Socially, ephemeral instances such as those created to accomplish a task or for fun are not generally considered separate members of a clade. For instance, if a cladist were to fork to go stir the pot of soup while they fry the onions, they generally keep the same name and general sense of identity. A clade, thus, is somewhat dependent on two or more individuated instances.
Terminology
- Up-tree describes one who is further away from the root from oneself (that would be one who is forked from oneself).
- Down-tree describes a cladist who is closer to the root from oneself (the one from whom one is forked).
- Cross-tree cladists are those who are not directly in line towards the root or up-tree from oneself.
Naming
One's clade name is free for the root instance to choose and applies to all those who are forked from them unless they choose to leave the clade. It is a free-form field that is not tied to any one particular language (e.g: Dear of the Ode clade versus Loam dos Riãos).