The term “operating” appears with striking versatility in literature, ranging from its technical application in computer science and mechanical devices to its metaphorical use in describing human behavior and natural causation. In some texts, it specifically denotes a system’s function or process, as seen in discussions of pricing systems in coffee trade [1], computer systems like LILO and Unix [2], [3], and even the kernel of an operating system [4]. In other works, “operating” is employed to evoke a sense of methodical or mechanical action, whether in describing a character’s routine behavior, such as moving with machine-like regularity [5] or the steady operation of natural or social laws [6], [7]. The word also bridges the technical and the metaphorical in historical and philosophical narratives, where it can denote not only physical functioning—as in the operation of machinery [8], [9]—but also the underlying forces acting within societies or the human mind, as suggested by its use in discussions of causality in Kant and James [10], [11]. Thus, across an array of genres—from technical manuals and historical memoirs to philosophical treatises and novels—the word “operating” enriches descriptions by signaling both literal functionality and subtle, often autonomous, action within systems.