Principlev1

Use 'always' and 'never' as diagnostic markers indicating

Use 'always' and 'never' as diagnostic markers indicating you have shifted from observation to character-level evaluation.

Why This Is a Principle

This derives from Automatic Fusion of Observation and Interpretation (humans fuse observation with interpretation), Graded Category Membership Structure (categories have graded membership), and Linguistic Structuring of Thought (language structures thought boundaries). Beck's overgeneralization and labeling distortions yield a monitoring principle: universal quantifiers ('always', 'never') signal cognitive errors. This is actionable—use these words as self-diagnostic flags.

Source Lessons

L-1349

The complaint versus the criticism

Addressing specific behavior is constructive while attacking character is destructive.

Connections

Derived From (3)

AxiomLinguistic Structuring of Thought AxiomAutomatic Fusion of Observation and Interpretation AxiomGraded Category Membership Structure

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