Principlev1

Build external inventory systems to compensate for

Build external inventory systems to compensate for context-dependent retrieval rather than trusting mental completeness.

Why This Is a Principle

Derives from Context-Dependent Memory Encoding (context-dependent memory), Availability Heuristic Mechanism (availability bias—ease of retrieval distorts judgment), and Working Memory Capacity Limit (working memory limits). Prescribes building external systems to surface unavailable-but-existent knowledge—a foundational infrastructure principle.

Source Lessons

L-0005

Mental inventory is always incomplete

Your sense of cognitive completeness is an illusion. What you can access at any moment is a context-dependent sample of what you actually know — and the sample changes without your awareness.

Connections

Derived From (3)

AxiomWorking Memory Capacity Limit AxiomContext-Dependent Memory Encoding AxiomAvailability Heuristic Mechanism

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