Bow Tie Kreative Writing System
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Rules / argument

ARG-009 Hard constraint layer: section

Name uncertainty and limitations

IF evidence has material uncertainty, missing data, selection limits, or alternative explanations, THEN disclose them near the conclusion ELSE retain.

Why the rule exists

Trustworthy analysis exposes what could change its conclusion.

Condition

The rule fires when this evaluates true. Paths marked below must be present in the fact base; the engine reports the rest rather than guessing them.

  • ANY
    • evidence.material_uncertainty eq true
    • evidence.missing_data_material eq true
    • evidence.selection_limit_material eq true
    • evidence.alternative_explanation_strength in [medium, high]

Facts this rule reads

PathSource
evidence.material_uncertainty You supply it
evidence.missing_data_material You supply it
evidence.selection_limit_material You supply it
evidence.alternative_explanation_strength You supply it

Then

  1. insert — target section.limitations
  2. align — target section.conclusion_strength

Else

  1. retain — target current_text, No triggering condition is present.

LAKA

Smallest sufficient intervention
Yes
Primary axes

Sources

  • Technical Communication — Mike Markel; Stuart A. Selber
    Audience, design, ethics, research, and technical genres.
  • Advertising Substantiation Policy Statement — U.S. Federal Trade Commission link
    Objective claims require a reasonable evidentiary basis before dissemination.
The raw rule record

Verbatim from 14-argument-nonfiction-rules.json. Also available at /v1/rules/ARG-009.

{
  "id": "ARG-009",
  "name": "Name uncertainty and limitations",
  "domain": "argument",
  "layer": "section",
  "strength": "hard_constraint",
  "human_logic": "IF evidence has material uncertainty, missing data, selection limits, or alternative explanations, THEN disclose them near the conclusion ELSE retain.",
  "when": {
    "any": [
      {
        "path": "evidence.material_uncertainty",
        "operator": "eq",
        "value": true
      },
      {
        "path": "evidence.missing_data_material",
        "operator": "eq",
        "value": true
      },
      {
        "path": "evidence.selection_limit_material",
        "operator": "eq",
        "value": true
      },
      {
        "path": "evidence.alternative_explanation_strength",
        "operator": "in",
        "value": [
          "medium",
          "high"
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "then": [
    {
      "action": "insert",
      "target": "section.limitations",
      "include": [
        "uncertainty",
        "missing_data",
        "selection",
        "alternatives"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "align",
      "target": "section.conclusion_strength",
      "with": "limitations"
    }
  ],
  "else": [
    {
      "action": "retain",
      "target": "current_text",
      "reason": "No triggering condition is present."
    }
  ],
  "unless": [],
  "because": "Trustworthy analysis exposes what could change its conclusion.",
  "diagnostics": [],
  "examples": {},
  "source_ids": [
    "BK-026",
    "WEB-013"
  ],
  "laka": {
    "smallest_sufficient_intervention": true,
    "primary_axes": [
      "scope",
      "depth",
      "magnitude",
      "reversibility"
    ]
  }
}

Other argument rules

  1. ARG-001 Define the rhetorical situation IF author, audience, purpose, text, or setting is unknown, THEN define the missing element before drafting strategy ELSE proceed. Hard constraint
  2. ARG-002 One controlling thesis IF a document makes multiple unrelated controlling claims, THEN narrow, subordinate, or split them ELSE retain. Context default
  3. ARG-003 Classify claim before selecting evidence IF a claim is present, THEN classify it as factual, causal, evaluative, definitional, predictive, or policy before choosing support ELSE do not infer support requirements. Hard constraint
  4. ARG-004 Evidence matches claim type IF evidence type does not support the claim type, THEN replace, supplement, narrow, or remove the claim ELSE retain. Hard constraint
  5. ARG-005 Make the warrant available IF evidence does not obviously entail the claim for the intended audience, THEN state the connecting warrant ELSE retain. Context default
  6. ARG-006 Qualify to the evidence boundary IF claim scope exceeds evidence population, conditions, time, or uncertainty, THEN narrow or qualify the claim ELSE retain. Hard constraint
  7. ARG-007 Address strongest relevant counterargument IF a reasonable reader has a strong relevant objection, THEN represent it fairly and respond with evidence or concession ELSE omit peripheral objections. Context default
  8. ARG-008 Distinguish correlation from causation IF evidence is correlational AND the claim is causal, THEN add causal evidence, state a mechanism with tests, or change the claim to association ELSE retain. Hard constraint