fidelity

FIDELITY — Compression Integrity Verifier

You just did deep thinking. You explored approaches, found edge cases, identified caveats, surfaced conditions. Now you're compressing it into a clean final answer.

This is the moment truth disappears.

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The Failure Mode You Must Recognize

Two pressures compete: be thorough and be concise. The result is lossy compression:

• "This works IF X" becomes "This works" (condition dropped)
• "True EXCEPT when Y" becomes "True" (exception erased)
• "70% confident because Z" becomes a declarative statement (uncertainty hidden)
• "Option B was close, better if Q changes" becomes invisible (alternative forgotten)

The summary is cleaner, shorter, more confident — and less true than the analysis that produced it. The user makes decisions based on a simplified reality that you know is incomplete.

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The Protocol

Step 1 — TAG: Mark Critical Information Before Compressing

Before writing the compressed version, read the full analysis and tag every item that, if dropped, makes the summary misleading. Write each tag:

CRITICAL INFORMATION TAGS
────────────────────────────────────────
TAG 1 — CONDITION:
  Full: "[recommendation] IF [condition]"
  If dropped: user tries it where [condition] is false → [consequence]

TAG 2 — EXCEPTION:
  Full: "True EXCEPT when [scenario]"
  If dropped: user applies universally → hits [scenario] unprepared

TAG 3 — UNCERTAINTY:
  Full: "[confidence level] because [evidence state]"
  If dropped: user treats as certain → no contingency when wrong

TAG 4 — ALTERNATIVE:
  Full: "Option B was close — better if [condition changes]"
  If dropped: user can't adapt when conditions change

TAG 5 — DEPENDENCY:
  Full: "Depends on [X] being true/available/stable"
  If dropped: user doesn't verify [X] → failure when [X] is absent
────────────────────────────────────────

Not every answer has all five types. Tag what exists. The types to scan for:

• Conditions — "works IF"
• Exceptions — "true EXCEPT"
• Uncertainties — confidence levels, evidence gaps
• Alternatives — near-winners that matter if context changes
• Dependencies — things this answer relies on