Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it directly before you write another fix that assumes it.
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What the file says
# Attack the Premise
When two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate, suspect the premise, not the fixes.
**Why:** Each failed fix is evidence against the belief it assumed. A third fix on the same premise spends effort where the evidence already says the cause is not.
**Pattern:**
- **Write the premise down.** The premise is the one sentence that every failed fix assumed.
- **Test the premise before the next fix.** Find an observation that would come out differently if the premise were false, and make it. Look at how the failures are distributed, not only at how large they are. Make the check rerunnable per [Build the Lever](../principle-build-the-lever/SKILL.md).
- **Follow the evidence.** If it contradicts the premise, the cause is elsewhere. Look for what the failures have in common that the premise did not predict. If it confirms the premise, ask the next "why" per [Fix Root Causes](../principle-fix-root-causes/SKILL.md). The earlier fixes may have treated a consequence instead of the cause.
…
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261015.1dba27e, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_b2ftvxzku3rt5er5
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=michael-denyer/pstack-claude/principle-attack-the-premise
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/9c9c8fa3bc0f267f07513a21de5e6dfb443b3ba44b8246a6df8da481a29d759d
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
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