Leitwörter
A Leitwort is a practice-carrying word, not a glossary entry. Every word here is alive only if it passes the Living Word Test.
The Living Word Test reads: When I see ___, I do ___, producing visible evidence ___. If any slot cannot be filled, the word is not yet alive.
The practice dictionary
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Borrowed Clarity
The feeling of understanding created by someone else's language before the learner has earned it through tracing, practice, application, feedback, and proof.
- When I see
- A phrase that sounds finished, but the speaker cannot use it on a real case.
- I do
- Slow the conversation down. Ask for the example, the artefact, or the practice that backs the phrase.
- Visible evidence
- A learner, founder, or team who can now act on the phrase, instead of repeating it.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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Grammar as Meaning
Grammar is not just correction; grammar changes what the reader sees and feels.
- When I see
- A grammatical fix that flattens the sentence.
- I do
- Treat the fix as a meaning decision: what does the new sentence now show the reader?
- Visible evidence
- A sentence revision that lets the reader see something the original hid.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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Less Typical
A practice of moving beyond the first obvious answer into clearer words, better judgment, and more useful action.
- When I see
- A first obvious answer that everyone has already produced.
- I do
- Treat it as evidence of the current pattern, not as final thought. Then indwell, move laterally, and return with a usable handle.
- Visible evidence
- A sentence, prompt, or decision that changes what someone can see, say, decide, build, or do — and that survives a real case.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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Living Word Test
A word is alive only if it changes noticing, action, and evidence.
- When I see
- A phrase that sounds powerful but produces no behavioural change.
- I do
- Ask: When I see ___, I do ___, producing visible evidence ___. If the slots cannot be filled, the word is not yet alive.
- Visible evidence
- A specific change in the world: a different decision, a different sentence, a different moment of teaching.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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Minister, Not Sovereign
AI agents can serve judgment but should not replace it.
- When I see
- A workflow where the AI is the final reader.
- I do
- Insert a human review gate before any irreversible action.
- Visible evidence
- A workflow whose outputs are checked against a real reader before they become real-world consequences.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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No Concept Without Artifact
A public concept should not float without a proof object, example, or practice attached.
- When I see
- An idea that travels only as a phrase, never as an example.
- I do
- Block publication until at least one concrete artefact is attached: a sentence transformation, a case note, a workflow, or a student example.
- Visible evidence
- A reader who can describe how to apply the concept after one pass.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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Public Road / Hidden Mountain
Less Typical is public and teachable; Below Words is deeper, stranger, and slower. The public site should publish what has become usable.
- When I see
- A post that imports private metaphysical material without earning its public form.
- I do
- Ask: Has this idea survived a real reader, a real student, or a real founder yet? If not, it belongs in private notes first.
- Visible evidence
- A site that publishes usable handles without dumping raw source material.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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Real Seeing Before Public Saying
Publish after contact with reality, not after private cleverness.
- When I see
- A polished post or prompt that has never met a reader.
- I do
- Send it to one real reader first. Read what survived and what did not.
- Visible evidence
- A revised draft whose changes can be traced to a real reaction, not to a self-flattering rewrite.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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Tail Space
The search space beyond the first plausible answer.
- When I see
- A polished answer that everyone has already produced.
- I do
- Look for the structurally different alternative — not a louder version of the obvious one.
- Visible evidence
- A candidate that passes the different/correct/useful gates when the obvious answer does not.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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Trace Before Compression
Preserve the source and the steps before summarising.
- When I see
- A summary that flatters the original by hiding its mess.
- I do
- Show the rejected drafts, the wrong turns, and the moment of decision before the polished version.
- Visible evidence
- A reader who can trace the conclusion back to the example that produced it.
→ Open the full Leitwort
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Verbalized Sampling
Generate visible language samples before choosing the final formulation.
- When I see
- A writer stuck on the first sentence.
- I do
- Force three to five visibly different drafts on the page. Choose only after seeing them side by side.
- Visible evidence
- A chosen version whose differences from the rejected ones can be named.
→ Open the full Leitwort