Write a disqualification test for each value — what…
Write a disqualification test for each stated value—a specific condition that would prove the value is aspirational rather than operative—to distinguish values you hold from values you wish you held.
Why This Is a Rule
Popper's falsifiability criterion applied to personal values: a value you hold should be distinguishable from a value you merely claim. The disqualification test creates this distinction by specifying what evidence would prove the value is aspirational (you wish you held it) rather than operative (you actually hold it).
"I value health" — the disqualification test might be: "If I skip exercise for 3+ consecutive weeks without legitimate injury, and don't adjust my schedule to resume, the value is aspirational." "I value intellectual growth" — disqualification: "If I haven't deliberately learned something outside my comfort zone in the past quarter, the value is aspirational." Each test specifies observable conditions that would falsify the claim.
Without disqualification tests, values are unfalsifiable: no possible behavior could prove you don't hold them, which means claiming them requires no evidence. "I value growth" is compatible with zero growth activities — you can always say "I value it, I just haven't gotten around to it." The disqualification test creates a line: if this condition holds, the value claim is disqualified by your own pre-committed standard.
When This Fires
- When articulating values and wanting to ensure honesty (Define values so an observer could predict your behavior…-609)
- When you suspect a stated value is aspirational — check if it passes its own disqualification test
- During annual values reviews when verifying which stated values are actually operative
- Complements Audit your last seven days of behavior against stated… (behavioral audit against stated values) with the pre-committed falsification criterion
Common Failure Mode
Writing unfalsifiable disqualification tests: "My health value would be disqualified if I completely stopped caring about health." This is effectively unfalsifiable — "caring" is internal and undeniable. The test must reference observable behavior: "If I don't exercise 3+ times per week for 4 consecutive weeks without medical reason." Observable, time-bounded, and binary.
The Protocol
(1) For each stated value, write: "This value would be disqualified as aspirational if [specific observable condition]." (2) The condition must be: Observable (an external observer could verify), Time-bounded (specifies a duration), Behavioral (references actions, not feelings or intentions). (3) Check: does the disqualification condition currently hold? If yes → the value is aspirational right now. Either convert it to operative (by changing behavior) or acknowledge it as aspirational (honest but non-operative). (4) If the condition doesn't hold → the value passes its own test. It's operative — for now. (5) Re-check quarterly: operative values can become aspirational through drift, and the disqualification test catches this drift objectively.