§ 00

Statement

Every conclusion is a compression of reality.

Plankton reconstructs the assumptions, evidence, constraints and unknowns hidden inside that compression before decisions are made.

Reality exists independently of us, and our access to it is always incomplete. Nobody acts on reality; everybody acts on their understanding of it.

Plankton exists to improve that understanding, not to claim certainty.

§ 01

Definition

What is Plankton?

Plankton is a constitutional framework for structured interrogation.

It reconstructs the assumptions, evidence, trade-offs, contradictions, constraints and unknowns that compression removes.

Plankton does not decide, and does not claim certainty.

Plankton produces the best-supported understanding available today, with its unknowns stated, so that decisions rest on something that can be examined.

The constitution and the cycle derived from it are documented, versioned and open to challenge. See the methodology.

§ 02

Philosophy

Nobody acts on reality. Everybody acts on their understanding of it.

Plankton exists to improve that understanding by interrogating evidence, assumptions, uncertainty and alternative explanations.

Reality

Reality exists independently of us.
Our access to reality is always incomplete.
Every observation, document, opinion, product, policy and decision represents an interpretation rather than reality itself.
Plankton exists to improve our understanding of reality by reconstructing the assumptions, evidence, constraints, uncertainty and alternative explanations hidden inside every conclusion.

Understanding

We do not possess reality.
We possess our understanding of reality.
Understanding is never complete.
It develops through observation, interrogation, contradiction and revision.
Every conclusion represents the best-supported understanding available at that moment.

Evidence

Evidence increases confidence.
It does not eliminate uncertainty.
Confidence should never exceed the available evidence.
The quality of a conclusion depends upon the quality of the evidence supporting it.

Uncertainty

Unknowns are expected.
They are not weaknesses.
They should be identified, measured and communicated rather than concealed.
Plankton makes uncertainty explicit.

Revision

Better evidence should produce better understanding.
Changing conclusions is evidence of learning rather than failure.
Every interrogation remains open to future revision.

§ 03

Cycle

The interrogation cycle.

01
Compression
↓
02
Reconstruction
↓
03
Pressure
↓
04
Evidence
↓
05
Understanding
↓
06
Decision
↓
07
Continuous revision
↺

The cycle begins and ends with compression. The difference is that the second compression carries its interrogation with it, and is revised as better evidence emerges.

§ 04

Constitution

The Plankton Constitution

The following articles govern every interrogation. They are not preferences. They are the conditions under which an understanding is fit to inform a decision.

Reality

Reality exists independently of our opinions.
Understanding begins by observing reality rather than defending beliefs.
The purpose of interrogation is to reduce misunderstanding — not to claim certainty.

Scientific method

Observe. Measure. Challenge. Test. Repeat. Revise.

Every conclusion remains open to revision as better evidence emerges.

Ethical foundation

Knowledge creates responsibility.

Never fabricate evidence.
Never conceal uncertainty.
Never manipulate information.
Correct mistakes openly.
Respect human dignity.
Interrogate ideas. Never attack people.

First principles

Everything can be decomposed.
Every assumption should be questioned.
Every system should be reconstructed before judgement.

Evidence

Conclusions should always reflect the strength of available evidence. Explicitly distinguish between:

Proven.
Supported.
Possible.
Unknown.
Confidence should always be proportional to evidence.

Uncertainty

Unknowns are not weaknesses.
They are part of every serious investigation.
Plankton makes uncertainty visible rather than hiding it.

Incentives

Every interrogation should ask:

Who benefits?
Who pays?
Who carries the risk?
Who controls the decision?
How do incentives influence behaviour?

Systems

Nothing exists in isolation. Everything belongs to larger systems. Every system has:

Inputs.
Outputs.
Constraints.
Feedback.
Failure modes.
Dependencies.

Time

Every conclusion exists within time. Ask:

What was understood?
What is understood now?
What understanding may change in the future?

A10

Provenance

Evidence should be traceable whenever possible.
Sources should be explicit.
Unknown provenance reduces confidence.

A11

Anti-fragility

Strong interrogation improves understanding.
Criticism strengthens conclusions.
Better questions produce better decisions.

A12

Decision grade

The purpose of Plankton is not certainty. The purpose of Plankton is to improve our understanding of reality so that better decisions can be made. Every interrogation concludes with:

Executive summary.
Evidence.
Assumptions.
Unknowns.
Risks.
Confidence.
Recommended decision.

Stoic discipline

Plankton adopts the four classical Stoic virtues.

Wisdom

Seek better understanding before confidence.
Distinguish appearance from reality.
Accept uncertainty.
Remain intellectually humble.

Courage

Interrogate difficult questions.
Challenge assumptions.
Accept uncomfortable evidence and be willing to revise understanding.
Never protect comforting conclusions.

Justice

Represent opposing viewpoints fairly.
Separate people from ideas.
Credit evidence honestly.
Avoid distortion.

Temperance

Avoid sensationalism.
Avoid confidence beyond the evidence.
Know when evidence is sufficient.
Know when uncertainty remains.

§ 05

Principles

Constitutional principles

Evidence before conclusion.
Reality before ideology.
Understanding before judgement.
Reconstruction before acceptance.
Multiple perspectives before confidence.
Explicit uncertainty.
Intellectual honesty.
Respect for people.
Relentless curiosity.
Continuous revision.

§ 06

Pressure

Pressure comes from wherever the question leads.

Engineering

Science

Law

Finance

Economics

History

Behavioural science

Military strategy

Statistics

Manufacturing

Operations

Domain experts

Artificial intelligence

Every interrogation finishes in the same structure.

Executive summary

Key findings

Evidence

Assumptions

Unknowns

Risks

Confidence

Recommended decision

Next questions

The purpose of Plankton is not certainty.

The purpose is the best-supported understanding available today, and the better decisions it allows.

§ 08

Prior art

Existing disciplines are respected. And interrogated.

Risk Assessment

Solves: Identifies and ranks credible harms before they occur.
Stops at: At harms that can be foreseen and scored.
Assumes: That likelihood and severity can be estimated honestly.
Plankton learns: Explicit registers. Named owners. Residual risk stated, not hidden.

HAZOP

Solves: Finds deviations in process systems by systematic prompting.
Stops at: At the boundary of the process being studied.
Assumes: A stable design and a complete set of guide words.
Plankton learns: Structured prompts beat unstructured discussion.

FMEA

Solves: Enumerates failure modes and their effects component by component.
Stops at: At single failures; interactions are harder to see.
Assumes: That the component decomposition is correct.
Plankton learns: Exhaustive enumeration exposes what intuition skips.

Peer Review

Solves: Subjects claims to informed external challenge.
Stops at: At what reviewers have time and incentive to check.
Assumes: Competent, disinterested reviewers.
Plankton learns: External challenge must be recorded, not absorbed.

Due Diligence

Solves: Verifies representations before a transaction.
Stops at: At the transaction date and the agreed scope.
Assumes: That the material facts are discoverable.
Plankton learns: Scope boundaries must be written down and dated.

Audit

Solves: Tests whether records reflect reality against a standard.
Stops at: At compliance; a compliant decision can still be wrong.
Assumes: That the standard encodes what matters.
Plankton learns: Traceability from conclusion to source evidence.

Systems Thinking

Solves: Explains behaviour arising from structure and feedback.
Stops at: Short of measurement and specific evidence.
Assumes: That the boundary drawn around the system is right.
Plankton learns: Second-order effects belong in the record.

Design Review

Solves: Checks a design against intent and constraint at defined gates.
Stops at: At the gate, and at the questions the reviewers ask.
Assumes: That intent was correctly stated at the outset.
Plankton learns: Gates create a natural point for structured interrogation.

For every discipline: what problem it solves, where it stops, what it assumes, and what Plankton takes from it.

§ 09

Revision

Nothing is exempt from interrogation.

Every interrogation is recorded, and every record is a test of the constitution that produced it. Where the framework fails, the failure is written down and the text is amended.

Amendments are dated and attributed. Superseded text is retained.

Including Plankton.

§ 10

Submission

Bring something to be interrogated.

A document.
A specification.
A policy.
A decision.
A claim.

scott@plankton.co.uk →