Primitives are the smallest useful unit of deliberate thought. Each performs exactly one cognitive operation: one input, one transformation, one output.

Their power comes not from complexity but from the fact that, once internalized, they fire automatically and can be chained without conscious effort. Every higher-level heuristic and schema in this toolkit is built from combinations of primitives.

Primitive categories

• Reframing: Changes the angle of view without changing the problem

• Decomposition: Breaks a problem into constituent parts

• Pattern matching: Finds structural similarity to known cases

• Evaluation: Assesses options, risks, and trade-offs

• Clarification: Sharpens vague inputs into precise ones