What does it mean that integration reveals redundancy?

When you connect your schemas you discover that many are variations of the same underlying idea.

Example: You maintain separate mental models for 'sunk cost fallacy' in financial decisions, 'commitment escalation' in project management, and 'relationship inertia' in personal life. When you finally map all three side by side, you realize they are the same schema: continuing to invest in something because of past investment rather than future value. Three labels. One structure. The moment you see the isomorphism, your entire schema library contracts — and your ability to apply that insight across domains expands.

Try this: Choose a domain you know well — management, cooking, fitness, software, parenting. Write down 8-10 principles or rules you follow in that domain, one per line. Now pick a second domain you know well and do the same. Place the two lists side by side. Draw lines between any principles that are structurally identical even though the vocabulary is different. Most people find 3-5 matches. Each match is a redundancy — two schemas doing the same cognitive work under different names.