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thinking-bounded-rationality

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Use when search or investigation could run forever. Set an explicit good-enough threshold first, then stop at the first option that clears it.

When to use

• Search or option comparison has no natural endpoint and could consume the turn budget.
• Multiple options would clear the requirement and further comparison has diminishing returns.
• The decision is reversible or low-stakes relative to more search.
• You are gathering context beyond what the decision needs to ship.

When not to use

• Irreversible or high-stakes choices (data loss, security, migrations, public commitments) where the good-to-best gap is material.
• Correctness gates: tests, security checks, and "did the fix work?" need the right answer, not a sufficient-looking one.
• One cheap lookup would settle the fact — do it; do not satisfice past it.
• The aspiration level cannot be stated — clarify the requirement first.

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