The Map Doesn't Exist

When you walk into a problem with no precedent, the first thing most people reach for is a framework. Something proven. Something someone else used somewhere else that worked.

This instinct is understandable. It’s also usually the wrong move.

The framework instinct is a compression function. It takes a new, complex, specific problem and maps it to a solved, simple, general one. The compression is useful — until it isn’t.

The most useful thing I’ve found in zero-reference domains isn’t a framework. It’s a question: what would we need to believe for this to be true? It forces explicit assumption-making before any plan is written.

[Full essay to be written.]