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sacred-cow-hunting

Research
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Find and challenge domain's unquestioned beliefs. Systematic identification and productive violation of dogma.

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Sacred Cow Hunting

Find and challenge domain's unquestioned beliefs.

State Ledger

ResourceTargetCurrent%
web-search3000%
web-research1000%
paper-overview2500%
paper-search1500%
paper-research800%

HARD-GATE

Cannot exit strategy until ≥80% of each budget line is consumed OR yield targets are met with justification for remaining budget.

Available Tactics

TacticRole
assumption-enumerationSurface paradigmatic assumptions (sacred cows)
inversion-protocolReverse sacred cows → build alternatives

Available SOPs

SOPRole
sacred-cow-identificationFind domain's unquestioned beliefs
assumption-perturbationTest consequences of violating sacred cows
benchmark-challengeChallenge formalized sacred cows (standards)
reversal-generationGenerate formal negations of sacred cows
constructive-rebellionBuild alternatives that productively violate dogma
destruction-synthesisSynthesize sacred cow hunting outputs

Execution Guidance

  1. Map the domain: Identify the domain's core beliefs, rules, and "everyone knows" statements
  2. Hunt sacred cows: Use sacred-cow-identification to find unquestioned beliefs
  3. Validate sacredness: Confirm these are truly unquestioned (not just best practice)
  4. Research heretics: Search for cases where violating these beliefs succeeded
  5. Perturb: Use assumption-perturbation to model consequences of violation
  6. Reverse: Use reversal-generation to create formal negations
  7. Build: Use constructive-rebellion to form productive violations
  8. Synthesize: Produce structured output via destruction-synthesis

Available Tactics

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

TacticWhen to use
creative-ideation-assumption-enumerationSurface, perturb, and prioritize assumptions by disruption potential. Orchestrates assumption surfacing → perturbation → sacred cow identification → prioritization.
inversion-protocolReverse statements → extract insights → build constructive alternatives. Systematic inversion pipeline from negation to innovation.

Available SOPs

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

SOPWhen to use
benchmark-challengeIdentify and negate benchmark assumptions. Deconstruct best practices to reveal hidden constraints and open new spaces.
constructive-rebellionBuild constructive alternatives from destructive negation. Transform violated assumptions into viable innovation directions.
creative-ideation-assumption-perturbationPerturb each assumption, observe system response. Systematic stress-testing of assumptions to reveal fragility and opportunity.
destruction-synthesisSynthesize all assumption destruction outputs into structured destructive innovation report.
reversal-generationSystematically reverse positive statements to generate creative inversions. Produces reversed statements with initial associations.
sacred-cow-identificationFind domain's unquestioned beliefs. Systematic identification of dogma that constrains innovation.