What is how systems learn?

How systems learn is a concept in personal epistemology: Any system that cannot observe its own output cannot improve.

Example: You decide to write for 30 minutes every morning. After two weeks, you feel like it isn't working — but you haven't defined 'working,' haven't measured word count, haven't tracked which sessions produce usable material, and haven't adjusted anything based on results. You are operating in open loop: action without observation. Compare this to a writer who logs time, word count, and a 1-to-5 quality rating after each session, reviews the data weekly, and shifts the routine based on what the numbers reveal. Same 30-minute commitment. One system learns. The other just repeats.

This concept is part of Phase 24 (Feedback Loops) in the How to Think curriculum, which builds the epistemic infrastructure for feedback loops.