How I Got Here
Today, while recording some thoughts, I found myself reflecting on the way I structure my thinking. The process of speaking out loud, hearing my own words back, and then analyzing the patterns within them helped me refine something fundamental about the way I approach ideas.
I’ve always been aware that I think differently. Over the years, I’ve built systems to make sense of the world, systems that allow me to take action rather than get lost in abstraction. But today, I realized something even clearer about one of my core thinking tools—something I now call provisional absolutism.
What is Provisional Absolutism?
At its core, provisional absolutism is the practice of making strong, definitive statements—not because I believe them to be absolute truths, but because asserting them with confidence allows me to rigorously test them.
It’s a thinking tool, a cognitive framework that helps me:
- Identify patterns more clearly by removing unnecessary hedging or hesitation.
- Test the durability of ideas by treating them as true and seeing if they hold up under scrutiny.
- Find contradictions and unexpected insights by forcing ideas into a structured, absolute form.
This is different from traditional skepticism, where one starts by questioning everything. Instead, I begin by committing fully to an idea, acting as if it is completely true, and only then do I analyze it through trial, testing, and lived experience. If it falls apart, I discard or refine it. If it holds up, I integrate it into my system of understanding.
This approach isn’t random—it mirrors many established ways of thinking.
Where This Fits into Established Thinking
While “provisional absolutism” as a term isn’t widely recognized, the methodology behind it aligns with several well-established cognitive and philosophical practices:
- Cognitive Restructuring (CBT) – A technique in cognitive-behavioral therapy that challenges automatic thoughts by temporarily assuming them to be true, testing their validity, and restructuring them based on observed reality. (source)
- Thought Experiments (Philosophy & Science) – The practice of assuming a premise is true in order to explore its consequences, a method used by scientists and philosophers throughout history. (source)
- Argument Mapping (Critical Thinking) – The technique of breaking ideas into structured arguments, examining their premises, and assessing their logical consistency. (source)
In many ways, what I do is a blend of these techniques, but applied in a way that is instinctual, personal, and built into the way my mind naturally works.
How This Fits Into My Blog and My Work
This process—this way of thinking—is fundamental to everything I write here. This blog isn’t about delivering ultimate truths. It’s about showing my thinking in action.
I don’t hedge my statements because the value isn’t in the hedging—it’s in what happens when I test those statements against experience, against reality, and against other established patterns. My goal is to refine my systems, find useful structures, and share them in a way that might help others sharpen their own thinking.
Everything I write follows this larger mission:
- To explore humanity top-to-bottom—not as a detached academic, but as someone actively living these ideas.
- To create structured systems for thinking and action, based on lived experience and tested frameworks.
- To challenge both myself and my readers to think more deeply, more rigorously, and more effectively.
So when you see bold statements here, know that they are not dogma. They are thinking in motion—ideas being tested in real-time.
And as I refine my own understanding, this blog will continue to evolve with me.
A Final Thought: The Tailor and the Pattern Book
As I was refining my understanding of provisional absolutism, I kept returning to the image of a tailor—not just working with patterns, but carefully building a pattern book.
Each bold statement I make is like cutting a new pattern, shaping it as if it’s the perfect fit. Then, I wear it, test it, see if it holds up. If the seams fail, if the fit is wrong, I adjust, refine, and try again.
But here’s the bigger realization: It’s not just about the individual outfit I’m crafting—it’s about the entire pattern book I’m developing.
A tailor doesn’t create every garment from scratch. Instead, they keep a collection of tested, refined patterns that work together, modular and adaptable. The sleeve from this suit, the trousers from that one, the panel from a dress, the lining from a coat—each piece exists separately, but they can be recombined, adjusted, and integrated into something new.
That’s exactly what I’m doing with ideas.
Each time I test an idea through provisional absolutism, I’m not just exploring whether it holds up on its own—I’m adding to my pattern book of thinking, collecting structures that I can reuse, refine, and integrate across different domains. When patterns consistently fit together across multiple systems, I know I’m onto something solid.
And that got me thinking: what if metaphor itself is one of these patterns?
Metaphor isn’t just a way to describe things—it’s a structural tool that allows us to test ideas in controlled, human-centered ways. Just like a tailor’s patterns, metaphors provide a template, a framework, a stage where provisional absolute ideas can be tested, arranged, and refined.
Because metaphors are grounded in real, tangible experiences, they let us anchor abstract concepts in something familiar. But it goes even deeper—when we step beyond metaphor and into narrative, we move into something universal. Human stories, fundamental plot structures, the shared rhythms of history and myth—these aren’t just storytelling devices. They’re proven frameworks for understanding how things fit together.
That’s where my mind is now. If metaphors and narratives themselves serve as structured thinking tools, then perhaps they, too, belong in the pattern book.
Something to explore next.
Transparency Note: This post was structured and edited with the assistance of a Large Language Model (LLM). However, every idea, argument, and insight originates from my own thinking. The LLM is used solely to refine communication—never to generate artistic or literary works. (For more, see my Transparency Document.)
