Principlev1

Resolve contradictions at the highest appropriate level of

Resolve contradictions at the highest appropriate level of abstraction to prevent them from multiplying into repeated micro-decisions at the operational level.

Why This Is a Principle

Derives from Hick's Law of Choice Time (decision time increases with options), Hierarchical Chunking Expands Capacity (chunking and hierarchical organization), and Abstraction Necessarily Discards Information (abstraction discards information). The principle prescribes resolving at appropriate abstraction levels to avoid decision multiplication, following from axioms about decision costs and hierarchy.

Source Lessons

L-0372

The cost of unresolved contradictions

Living with unexamined contradictions creates cognitive dissonance that drains energy. The cost is not the contradiction itself but the sustained effort of holding incompatible commitments without examining them — a tax on every decision, every plan, and every moment of self-reflection that touches the unresolved conflict.

Connections

Derived From (3)

AxiomAbstraction Necessarily Discards Information AxiomHierarchical Chunking Expands Capacity AxiomHick's Law of Choice Time

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