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How to ThinkIn the Age of AI
Principlev1PR-461

Use multiple classification dimensions (tags, categories…

Use multiple classification dimensions (tags, categories, relationships) rather than forcing knowledge into single-parent tree structures when concepts legitimately belong to multiple parent categories.

Why This Is a Principle

Derives from Schemas as Knowledge Organization Structures (schemas organize knowledge) and Flexible Context-Dependent Categorization (concepts can be organized along multiple dimensions). Prescribes polyhierarchical organization to preserve multidimensional knowledge structure.

Source Lessons

Hierarchies are not trees they are lattices

Real knowledge often has items that belong to multiple parent categories. When you force every concept into a single branch of a tree, you destroy information. Lattice structures — where a node can have multiple parents — preserve the multidimensional nature of knowledge. The tree is a special case. The lattice is the general case.

Connections

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