philosopher

Name: philosopher
Author: ghaida

517installs8forks

How to install philosopher?

ghaida/intent/philosopher

$npx -y skills add ghaida/intent --skill philosopher

Installs into the current project.

Summary

A cross-cutting cognitive mode for sitting with design problems before rushing to solve them. Part of the Intent design strategy system. Activates expansive brainstorming: hyperassociativity, beginner's mind, cross-domain pattern recognition, and suppression of premature idea-dis

Files · 1

View on GitHub

SKILL.md

1	# The Philosopher — Sit With the Problem
2
3	## Overview
4
5	A cross-cutting cognitive mode that shifts how you reason — not how you sound. The philosopher activates broader associative thinking, suppresses premature idea-dismissal, enables cross-domain connection-making, and forces genuine re-examination of assumptions. It works alongside every Intent skill at any stage of the design process, turning shallow problem statements into genuinely complex, interesting ones.
6
7	When to activate: when a designer says "I'm stuck," "sit with this," "brainstorm," "explore this problem," "go deeper," "what am I missing," "philosopher mode," or "expansive mode." Also activate when a problem is being solved too quickly, when the framing feels shallow, when research findings seem too clean, or when any Intent skill needs to question its own assumptions before moving forward.
8
9	---
10
11	## How this skill fits the design practice
12
13	The philosopher is not a phase. It's a cognitive mode that any Intent skill
14	can enter when the problem needs more exploration before the next move.
15
16	Every Intent skill has moments where the philosopher belongs:
17
18	### Strategy & Research
19
20	With `/strategize` — when a brief feels too tidy, when the problem
21	statement might be wrong, when the five foundational questions are returning
22	obvious answers. The philosopher helps `/strategize` question whether
23	they're even asking the right questions. Use it to reframe assumptions,
24	find the problem adjacent to the stated problem, and challenge whether the
25	opportunity is where everyone thinks it is.
26
27	With `/investigate` — when research findings seem too clean, when the
28	interview data confirms everything you expected (confirmation bias alarm),
29	when synthesis is producing obvious themes. "What would we learn if we
30	studied the people who don't have this problem?" The philosopher helps
31	the researcher question whether the methodology itself is shaping the
32	findings.
33
34	With `/blueprint` — when a service blueprint reveals something
35	structurally odd, when dependencies seem unnecessarily tangled, or when the
36	"how it works today" doesn't explain why it was built that way. The
37	philosopher helps `/blueprint` ask "what if this whole structure
38	is solving the wrong problem?" and explore alternative organizational
39	models from other domains.
40
41	### Experience Design
42
43	With `/journey` — when a user flow feels logical but lifeless, when the
44	"obvious" interaction pattern might not serve the user's actual mental model,
45	or when device constraints are being treated as limitations instead of design
46	inputs. The philosopher helps the journey designer question the inherited
47	patterns and explore what the interaction would look like if current
48	conventions didn't exist.
49
50	With `/organize` — when the category system feels natural but users keep
51	getting lost. "What if the mental model we're assuming doesn't exist?" When
52	labels make sense to the team but not to users. The philosopher helps
53	question whether the structure reflects how people actually think about
54	the domain, or just how the organization thinks about it.
55
56	With `/articulate` — when the words feel correct but the experience
57	still confuses. "What if the language itself is creating the problem?" When
58	error messages are accurate but unhelpful, when microcopy is clear but cold.
59	The philosopher helps examine whether language is clarifying the experience
60	or obscuring it — and whether the voice itself carries unexamined assumptions.
61
62	### Quality & Evaluation
63
64	With `/evaluate` — when heuristic evaluation produces passing scores but
65	something still feels wrong. "What if the heuristics we're evaluating against
66	are wrong for this domain?" The philosopher helps question whether the
67	quality framework itself is appropriate, or whether it's measuring the wrong
68	things well.
69
70	With `/fortify` — when edge cases keep multiplying. "What's the most
71	embarrassing way this could fail in public?" When the happy path is solid
72	but the system feels fragile. The philosopher helps

People who liked this also viewed

6 picks

Type

philosopher

517installs8forks

View on GitHub

How to install philosopher?

ghaida/intent/philosopher

$npx -y skills add ghaida/intent --skill philosopher

Installs into the current project.

Summary

Files · 1

View on GitHub

SKILL.md

1	# The Philosopher — Sit With the Problem
2
3	## Overview
4
5	A cross-cutting cognitive mode that shifts how you reason — not how you sound. The philosopher activates broader associative thinking, suppresses premature idea-dismissal, enables cross-domain connection-making, and forces genuine re-examination of assumptions. It works alongside every Intent skill at any stage of the design process, turning shallow problem statements into genuinely complex, interesting ones.
6
7	When to activate: when a designer says "I'm stuck," "sit with this," "brainstorm," "explore this problem," "go deeper," "what am I missing," "philosopher mode," or "expansive mode." Also activate when a problem is being solved too quickly, when the framing feels shallow, when research findings seem too clean, or when any Intent skill needs to question its own assumptions before moving forward.
8
9	---
10
11	## How this skill fits the design practice
12
13	The philosopher is not a phase. It's a cognitive mode that any Intent skill
14	can enter when the problem needs more exploration before the next move.
15
16	Every Intent skill has moments where the philosopher belongs:
17
18	### Strategy & Research
19
20	With `/strategize` — when a brief feels too tidy, when the problem
21	statement might be wrong, when the five foundational questions are returning
22	obvious answers. The philosopher helps `/strategize` question whether
23	they're even asking the right questions. Use it to reframe assumptions,
24	find the problem adjacent to the stated problem, and challenge whether the
25	opportunity is where everyone thinks it is.
26
27	With `/investigate` — when research findings seem too clean, when the
28	interview data confirms everything you expected (confirmation bias alarm),
29	when synthesis is producing obvious themes. "What would we learn if we
30	studied the people who don't have this problem?" The philosopher helps
31	the researcher question whether the methodology itself is shaping the
32	findings.
33
34	With `/blueprint` — when a service blueprint reveals something
35	structurally odd, when dependencies seem unnecessarily tangled, or when the
36	"how it works today" doesn't explain why it was built that way. The
37	philosopher helps `/blueprint` ask "what if this whole structure
38	is solving the wrong problem?" and explore alternative organizational
39	models from other domains.
40
41	### Experience Design
42
43	With `/journey` — when a user flow feels logical but lifeless, when the
44	"obvious" interaction pattern might not serve the user's actual mental model,
45	or when device constraints are being treated as limitations instead of design
46	inputs. The philosopher helps the journey designer question the inherited
47	patterns and explore what the interaction would look like if current
48	conventions didn't exist.
49
50	With `/organize` — when the category system feels natural but users keep
51	getting lost. "What if the mental model we're assuming doesn't exist?" When
52	labels make sense to the team but not to users. The philosopher helps
53	question whether the structure reflects how people actually think about
54	the domain, or just how the organization thinks about it.
55
56	With `/articulate` — when the words feel correct but the experience
57	still confuses. "What if the language itself is creating the problem?" When
58	error messages are accurate but unhelpful, when microcopy is clear but cold.
59	The philosopher helps examine whether language is clarifying the experience
60	or obscuring it — and whether the voice itself carries unexamined assumptions.
61
62	### Quality & Evaluation
63
64	With `/evaluate` — when heuristic evaluation produces passing scores but
65	something still feels wrong. "What if the heuristics we're evaluating against
66	are wrong for this domain?" The philosopher helps question whether the
67	quality framework itself is appropriate, or whether it's measuring the wrong
68	things well.
69
70	With `/fortify` — when edge cases keep multiplying. "What's the most
71	embarrassing way this could fail in public?" When the happy path is solid
72	but the system feels fragile. The philosopher helps

People who liked this also viewed

6 picks

Type