Track where each schema came from — prioritize…

For each schema you operate on, document source provenance in a single field—specific person, book, cultural norm, direct experience, or unknown—then prioritize verification effort by source weakness.

When This Fires

During schema inventory and audit (Inventory what you actually do — not what you should…, Five-step schema audit)
When you notice you're operating on a belief and can't remember where it came from
During prioritization of which schemas to validate first
When evaluating whether a schema's confidence level is justified by its source

Common Failure Mode

Treating all sources as equal: a cultural norm absorbed at age 12 gets the same confidence as a principle derived from 10 years of direct professional experience. Provenance tracking makes the confidence-source mismatch visible.

The Protocol

For each schema: (1) Add a provenance field: who or what was the source? Choose from: specific person, book, cultural norm, direct experience, unknown. (2) If "unknown" → highest verification priority. You're operating on a belief with no traceable foundation. (3) If "cultural norm" → high priority. It was inherited, not tested. (4) If "specific person" → medium priority. Evaluate by that person's domain expertise. (5) If "book" → evaluate by evidence quality in the book. (6) If "direct experience" → lower priority, but check sample size. Direct experience is reality-tested but may be limited to narrow conditions.