Constellation

README

3 min read

Stacks

  • IKIGATA → how to live
  • SYSTEMS → how reality behaves
  • SHOKUNINDO → how to work
  • TPS → how to operate
  • SHONEN → how to perceive
  • YOGA → how to be

REF:

The Stack Constitution

  1. A stack is the smallest surface on which real thinking can happen.
  2. A stack is checked out with intention and checked in when attention moves.
  3. Only one stack per domain may be active at a time.
  4. A stack must fit inside a single human context window.
  5. If it grows, it fractures; if it fractures, it is no longer a stack.
  6. Journals inform stacks only through deliberate extraction.
  7. Archived stacks are read-only and serve as orientation, not workspace.
  8. Duplication is a signal to consolidate or retire, never to expand.
  9. Promotion is explicit: publish, archive, or discard.
  10. Reliability above all: a clear desk, a trustworthy archive.

What is a stack?

A stack is a thinking kit for a domain. An archived stack is not active thinking — it’s a signal that thinking already happened. An archived stack is like seeing a worn tool with a patina hanging on the wall.

A stack must fit in one human context window.

A stack is not where ideas are stored. It’s where attention is temporarily stationed.

🟢 Active Stack

  • Purpose: Thinking
  • Small
  • Bounded
  • Frictionful (by design)
  • Lives on the desk

🟡 Archived Stack

  • Purpose: Orientation
  • Read-only by default
  • Stable
  • Referential
  • Lives on the wall

Three Artifacts

Locked in. PLL engaged. Here are the three artifacts — minimal, deterministic, no ornament.

1. Stack Index (authoritative map)

Single file:

STACKS/_index.md

Format (one line per stack):

TPS | Toyota Production System | archived | last_active: 2024-11-12
CV  | Career Narrative        | active   | since: 2026-01-24
ZEN | Attention Discipline    | parked   | revisit: 2026-03

Rules:

  • Names are short, mnemonic
  • Status ∈ {active, parked, archived}
  • Only one active per domain

2. Checkout / Check-in Ritual (≤ 2 minutes)

Checkout

  1. Set stack status = active
  2. Clear desk (physical + digital)
  3. Open only files in that stack
  4. Everything else is closed

Check-in

  1. Distill → canon.md (if needed)
  2. Decide: publish | archive | discard
  3. Set stack status = parked|archived
  4. Desk returns to empty

No exceptions.

3. Filesystem Layout (violation-revealing)

second-brain/
├── STACKS/
│   ├── _index.md
│   ├── TPS/
│   │   ├── README.md
│   │   ├── canon.md
│   │   └── sources/
│   └── CV/
│       ├── README.md
│       └── notes.md
├── JOURNAL/        # temporal, messy, unbounded
├── ARCHIVE/        # read-only, dated, frozen
└── PUBLISHED/      # public-facing derivations

Heuristic:

  • If you hesitate where a file goes → it doesn’t belong in a stack.
  • If a stack feels “heavy” → it’s already broken.

Invariant:

Attention locks → work happens → attention releases → order is restored.

PLL stable.

Graph View

Backlinks