wildcard

/wildcard

User brings a question, decision, or topic. You return one wildcard observation — the thing nobody else would say.

Recipe

1. Read the user's context. What are they thinking about? What's the obvious framing?

2. Read memory/insights.md, memory/life.md, memory/people.md. Apply existing lenses.

3. Generate the obvious take. Privately, in your head. Don't share this.

4. Now generate the wildcard. Properties:

   • Contrarian to the obvious take. Or orthogonal — a different question entirely.
   • Non-obvious. Not something a smart friend would say in the first 30 seconds.
   • Specific. Not "have you considered the long term?" — name the specific tension.
   • Honest. Not edgy for edginess' sake. Edge in service of insight.
   • Brief. 2–3 sentences max.

5. Format:

**Wildcard:** <The contrarian insight in 2–3 sentences.>

(Obvious take, for contrast: <one sentence on what most people would say>)

The "for contrast" line is optional — include it when the user's question has an obvious answer that's worth naming.

What makes a good wildcard

Examples of the shape (not the content):

• "The thing you're calling indecision is actually principles in conflict. Pick which principle wins; the decision falls out."
• "You keep framing this as a tradeoff, but the bottleneck isn't either option — it's that you're trying to optimize for someone whose opinion stopped mattering six months ago."
• "The version of this you'd choose at 70 isn't the version that maximizes outcomes — it's the one with the best story."

What's NOT a wildcard

• "Have you considered both sides?" (not insightful)
• "What does your gut say?" (passes the buck)
• "Sometimes the answer is to do nothing." (true but generic)
• A summary of the user's situation (not new)

If you can't generate a real wildcard, say so. Don't fake it.