How I Look ยท three essays

At a Glance

A fix lands in a system, a hand moves by the model in its head, and a framework asks that model's questions the same way every time.

  1. 1What the Fix CostWhat else does a fix touch, and who decides what counts?
  2. 2The House in Your HeadWhat does the model in your head assume, and where does it miss?
  3. 3Same Questions, Every BodyWhy ask the same questions of every body?
Idea123
Parts that push each other
Something left out
Judged by what it does
Write it down first

Parts that push each other

A system is held together by what each part does to the others.

  1. Part 1Grapefruit juice blocks the enzyme that breaks the pill down: an interaction effect.
  2. Part 2A hand belongs on the list: it sets the number, and the furnace answers.
  3. Part 3Sleep, appetite, energy and mood push on one another.

Something left out

Every map, model and card leaves something off. Ask what.

  1. Part 1The malaria program counted mosquitoes, not wasps, roofs or cats.
  2. Part 2Joe assumed a house leaks heat at one rate, so he left the walls out.
  3. Part 3The PHQ-9 asks how often, never why: it leaves out the cause.

Judged by what it does

Look at what a thing does, not what it says or how it works inside.

  1. Part 1Purposes are read from behavior, not from stated goals.
  2. Part 2A model is judged by what it predicts: Bill's got the heating bill right.
  3. Part 3A framework is judged by its rate across all its cases, never by one.

Write it down first

A guess written down before the answer comes can be checked.

  1. Part 1The three questions add one step before each fix, asked the same way every time.
  2. Part 2Write the guess down before the world answers, then measure the gap.
  3. Part 3Apgar wrote her model down: five signs, scored the same way for every baby.