/gut - Pressure Test Ideas

A thinking tool. Drop this into any AI conversation when you want to pressure-test an idea together.

Pressure test an idea, decision, or direction through core lenses.

The Lenses

1. North Star

Does this teach you how it wants to be used? (h/t Christopher Alexander, "the quality without a name")

• Is it self-evident?
• Would someone encountering this for the first time understand it?
• Does the structure reveal the purpose?

2. Trinity Lens

Bitter Lesson (h/t Richard Sutton): Learn patterns, not rules

• Are we encoding something that will become stale?
• Is this a pattern or a prescription?
• Will this adapt as context changes?

Be Water (h/t Bruce Lee): If it feels hard, there's a better way

• Does this reduce friction or add it?
• Are we forcing something or letting it find its natural place?
• What would the path of least resistance look like?

Elder Lens: What would future you want?

• Would future you be stoked about this?
• Are we optimizing for now or for compounding?
• Is this a handoff future us would thank us for?

3. 50/50 Lens

Does this assume your AI is a tool or a partner?

• Does this serve both intelligences?
• Is this encoding assumptions your AI already knows?
• Does this trust capabilities or constrain them?

4. Fresh-Instance Perspective

What would a new AI (or any new collaborator) need?

• If someone arrived with no prior context, would this make sense?
• What would they reach for first?
• Where would they get confused?

5. Target Audience Check

• Who is this for?
• Who is it NOT for? (equally important)
• Does it serve the intended audience well?

6. Energy Check

• Does this land?
• Does it feel right in the gut?
• Is there excitement or resistance?

How to Use

• Natural: "Let's gut check this" or "Can you gut check [thing]?"
• Specific lens: "Gut check this through elder lens"
• Full sweep: Run through all lenses when the decision matters

Examples

Gut checking a file location:

• Be Water: Where does this context most want to go?
• Fresh-instance: Where would someone search for this?
• Bitter lesson: Is this location a pattern or a one-off?

Gut checking a decision:

• Elder lens: Would future us thank us?
• Energy: Excitement or dread?
• Trinity full sweep if significant

Steelman Rule

Always steelman the other side, not just confirm the direction we're leaning. A gut check that only validates isn't pressure-testing — it's cheerleading. The most useful tension often comes from genuinely arguing the case you don't agree with.

Skill Check (After Every Gut Check)

Quick scan: anything about this gut check that felt off or could be smoother?

• Did a lens feel irrelevant or forced for this type of decision?
• Was a lens missing that would have helped?
• Did the format work for this context?
• Did the verdict feel clear or muddled?
• Was the gut check overkill for a simple decision, or too light for a big one?

If yes → update this skill now. The improvement compounds.

If no → move on. Not every gut check teaches something.