Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 4568 answers
Agents need regular maintenance — scheduled reviews prevent gradual degradation.
Agents need regular maintenance — scheduled reviews prevent gradual degradation.
Agents need regular maintenance — scheduled reviews prevent gradual degradation.
Agents need regular maintenance — scheduled reviews prevent gradual degradation.
List your five most important cognitive agents — habits, routines, systems, or recurring commitments. For each one, write down: (a) When you last deliberately reviewed whether it was still working as designed. (b) What maintenance cadence it should have — monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually —.
Treating a working agent as a finished agent. The most common maintenance failure is not neglecting broken systems — it is neglecting functional ones. When something is working, there is no pain signal to trigger a review, no crisis to force attention. So the agent runs unexamined until it.
Agents need regular maintenance — scheduled reviews prevent gradual degradation.
Sometimes you should improve an existing agent; sometimes you should replace it entirely.
Sometimes you should improve an existing agent; sometimes you should replace it entirely.
Pick one agent you currently run — a habit, routine, decision framework, or mental model that feels sluggish or unreliable. Write two columns: 'Evolve' and 'Replace.' Under Evolve, list specific modifications you would make to restore or improve it. Under Replace, describe what a fresh agent.
Two opposite errors are equally common. The first is compulsive evolution — endlessly patching an agent that should have been retired three iterations ago, because you built it and you feel attached to it. The second is compulsive replacement — scrapping agents at the first sign of difficulty and.
Sometimes you should improve an existing agent; sometimes you should replace it entirely.
Track versions of your agents so you can compare, rollback, and learn from changes.
Track versions of your agents so you can compare, rollback, and learn from changes.
Track versions of your agents so you can compare, rollback, and learn from changes.
Define clear criteria for when an agent should be retired rather than maintained. Without explicit retirement criteria set in advance, you will hold onto agents long past the point where they serve you — because the sunk cost of building them, the identity you attached to them, and the absence of.
Define clear criteria for when an agent should be retired rather than maintained. Without explicit retirement criteria set in advance, you will hold onto agents long past the point where they serve you — because the sunk cost of building them, the identity you attached to them, and the absence of.
Define clear criteria for when an agent should be retired rather than maintained. Without explicit retirement criteria set in advance, you will hold onto agents long past the point where they serve you — because the sunk cost of building them, the identity you attached to them, and the absence of.
Define clear criteria for when an agent should be retired rather than maintained. Without explicit retirement criteria set in advance, you will hold onto agents long past the point where they serve you — because the sunk cost of building them, the identity you attached to them, and the absence of.
Select three cognitive agents you currently run — habits, routines, decision protocols, or review systems. For each one, write three retirement criteria: one based on performance (a measurable decline in the output that originally justified the agent), one based on relevance (a change in your.
Treating retirement criteria as theoretical rather than operational. You read this lesson, nod, and think 'I should probably retire some agents.' But you do not write specific, measurable criteria in advance. Without pre-committed criteria, every retirement decision becomes a real-time judgment.
Define clear criteria for when an agent should be retired rather than maintained. Without explicit retirement criteria set in advance, you will hold onto agents long past the point where they serve you — because the sunk cost of building them, the identity you attached to them, and the absence of.
Retire agents gracefully — document what they did, why they're being retired, and what replaces them.
Retire agents gracefully — document what they did, why they're being retired, and what replaces them.