Principlev1PR-177
Treat thoughts and emotions as observable cognitive events…
Treat thoughts and emotions as observable cognitive events rather than direct readouts of reality to enable metacognitive regulation.
Why This Is a Principle
Derives from Cognitive Defusion: Thoughts Are Objects (thoughts are discrete objects separable from identity), Two-Level Metacognitive Architecture (metacognition requires object-level and meta-level), and Emotion as Systematic Cognitive Modulator (emotional states systematically distort judgment). The principle prescribes cognitive defusion—treating mental events as data rather than truth—which follows from these axioms about consciousness structure and emotional influence.