Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
Scale guard clause complexity to false-positive cost…
Match the number of qualifying conditions to the cost of false positives—use minimal guards for low-cost triggers and multiple defensive checks for high-consequence triggers.
Before committing to a one-way door, search for ways…
When facing a one-way door decision, actively search for ways to restructure it into a two-way door through trial periods, exit clauses, smaller pilots, or phased rollouts before committing to the heavyweight deliberation process.
Test your riskiest assumptions first and cheapest — list…
Before committing significant resources to any project, list the 3-5 assumptions that would invalidate the most work if wrong, then design and execute the cheapest falsification test for each assumption in order of potential damage.
When the cost of late error discovery exceeds 5x early…
At each stage of a multi-phase commitment, calculate the cost ratio between discovering a foundational error now versus discovering it after the next phase completes—when this ratio exceeds 5:1, increase detection investment before proceeding.
Remove agents gradually — reduce frequency before…
When removing an agent, execute graduated shutdown by reducing frequency or scope before full elimination, monitoring for hidden dependencies during the transition period.