The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types and 2 molecules
When encountering the same insight expressed in three or more separate notes across different contexts, extract the shared structural pattern into a single canonical note with a precise name, then replace the duplicate instances with links to the canonical abstraction.
When a note exceeds 800 words or covers three distinct topics, decompose it into 2-4 separate atomic notes and rewrite the connections between them to reveal causal chains invisible in the original structure.
When splitting a compound note during refactoring, make explicit decisions about which idea is the core claim, what was supporting evidence versus separate argument, and how the pieces causally relate before completing the split.
Use AI to audit your knowledge base for structural debt (compound notes, duplicates, orphans, broken connections) but perform the actual refactoring decisions yourself to gain the cognitive benefit.
When refactoring reveals that notes in a sequence jump or break, treat those gaps as specifications for new atoms to write rather than as sequence failures.
When unable to determine if a note contains one idea or two, write it as-is during capture, then return during a dedicated review session to attempt decomposition without the pressure of real-time capture.
When multiple children override the same inherited property, restructure the hierarchy rather than accumulating individual overrides, as clustered overrides indicate the parent's assumption is systematically wrong.
Restructure hierarchies at the specific node causing friction during the moment you feel the friction, rather than conducting proactive system-wide reorganizations, to keep restructuring costs small and diagnostic signals fresh.
When a contained item appears in three or more contexts requiring synchronization, extract it into a referenced shared source with a single canonical version rather than maintaining multiple copies.