Mind · Reasoning
Farsimple
Explain by first laying out the complexity a quick account would blur, then building a simpler account that keeps it
Definition
Mechanism
An explanation in two phases. The first lays out the distinctions, cases and exceptions that a quick simple account would blur, and may Decompose the subject to do so. The second builds a simpler account in which each of them either survives or is named as set aside. The reader is shown both phases, and the final account is checked against the first.
Invariants
- The first phase is shown to the reader, not only worked through by the explainer.
- Each distinction raised in the first phase either survives in the final account or is named there as set aside.
Risks
Failure modes
Complexity as display
the first phase adds difficulty that the final account never uses.
Lost return
the explanation stops in the complex phase.
Quiet drop
a distinction from the first phase vanishes from the final account without being named.
Relationships
Builds on
References
Dividing complexity into manageable units
Nothing in this library builds on this pattern yet.
Reference