---
slug: "Brakegrow"
name: "Brakegrow"
type: "Strategy"
layer: "Mind"
ref: "Brakegrow#2b56"
sema_id: "sema:Brakegrow#mh:SHA-256:2b56da17a8f8cc38a9a2f80c45c71acd6a38ea9f35745c1a1e14fedc37c4e876"
tags: ["Mind","Strategy"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json
url: https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/Brakegrow/
related: ["Risk","MarginalValueRule#3499","OptimalStop#975a"]
---

# Brakegrow

Progress that also sharpens the signs that going further in the same direction would do harm

Layer: Mind · Category: Strategy

## Mechanism

Each step of progress in a direction also records what it revealed about that direction's limits: an observable sign that further steps would do harm, kept as a [Risk](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Risk.md) trigger. A direction counts as brakegrow progress only while each step adds or sharpens such a sign, and it is reviewed when any recorded sign appears.

## Invariants

- Each step adds a harm sign for the direction or sharpens an existing one.
- Every recorded sign is observable during the work.
- When a recorded sign appears, the direction is reviewed before the next step.

## Failure modes

- Momentum blindness: steps continue while no harm sign is recorded.
- Alarm inflation: vague signs are recorded that could never fire.

## Builds on

- [Risk](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Risk.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Used by

—

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:Brakegrow#mh:SHA-256:2b56da17a8f8cc38a9a2f80c45c71acd6a38ea9f35745c1a1e14fedc37c4e876`
- Ref: `Brakegrow#2b56`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/Brakegrow/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/#Brakegrow)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Brakegrow.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json)