Version-control your values — document old value, new value, and trigger in a changelog rather than overwriting

Why This Is a Rule

Values evolve — and the evolution trajectory contains information that the current state alone doesn't. If your current value is "prioritize creative freedom," knowing that the previous value was "prioritize financial security" and the trigger was "I turned down a creative opportunity for money and regretted it for two years" gives you context that strengthens and deepens the current value. Without the changelog, you just have the current value; with it, you have the story of why the value changed and what evidence supports it.

This is Timestamp beliefs with validity windows — convert apparent time-based contradictions into explicit version transitions (validity windows for beliefs) applied to values: instead of overwriting the old value (losing the historical context), you add the new value alongside the old one with timestamps and triggers. The old value didn't become wrong — it became superseded in a specific context for specific reasons. That context might change again, and the historical record helps you evaluate whether the previous value should be reconsidered.

Version control for values also prevents two failure modes. Revision blindness: forgetting that you ever held a different value, which prevents learning from the trajectory of change. Chronic revision: changing values frequently without noticing the pattern, which might indicate external pressure rather than genuine evolution.

When This Fires

• When any significant value shifts — through deliberate examination (Trace each value to its origin — if you acquired it before you could choose deliberately, it's inherited, not chosen), life experience, or crisis
• When you notice you "used to believe X but now believe Y" — document the shift
• During annual values reviews when comparing current values to documented history
• Complements Timestamp beliefs with validity windows — convert apparent time-based contradictions into explicit version transitions (belief validity windows) with the values-specific changelog

Common Failure Mode

Overwriting without documenting: "I used to value financial security but now I value creative freedom." The old value disappears from your records, and with it the context of why you shifted. Five years from now, if creative freedom hasn't produced fulfillment, you can't trace the shift back to its trigger to evaluate whether the evidence still supports it.

The Protocol

(1) When a value shift occurs, create a changelog entry rather than updating the existing record: Date: when the shift occurred or was recognized. Old value: what you previously held, stated clearly. New value: what you now hold. Trigger: what experience, evidence, or reasoning caused the shift. Confidence: how certain are you that the new value is better than the old? (2) Keep both the old and new values in your records — the old with a "superseded by" note, the new with a "supersedes" note. (3) Periodically review the changelog: are values shifting frequently (potential instability) or rarely (potential rigidity)? Is the trajectory showing convergence toward something stable? (4) The changelog becomes your values autobiography — the story of who you became and why.