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The Origins

How in god's green earth did this even happen?

CITE: The Citation Format Itself

Field of Origin: System Design, Epistemology, Open Web Culture Field Covered: Citation, Mutation Tracking, Systems Thinking

Block Version: 1.0

Basic Concepts

CommIT Iterative Trace of Emergence or CITE is a citation and mutation documentation format developed within the CommIT framework. Unlike traditional citation systems (APA, MLA, etc.), CITE is not concerned solely with attribution or academic validation. Instead, it tracks the evolution of ideas as they are stripped from origin, decontextualized, and repurposed functionally within new systems. CITE was created to hold iterative intellectual honesty as a structural requirement—not a moral aspiration.

It is inspired by:

  • Traditional citation formats (APA/MLA for structure)

  • Wikipedia (for open-source verifiability)

  • Twitter’s Community Notes (for modular context and challengeable insight that is community-involved)

Strip to Function

A citation format, when reduced to core function, serves four purposes:

  1. Trace the origin of an idea

  2. Validate its credibility

  3. Allow others to challenge it

  4. Maintain transparency about use

CITE strips away the elitism, rigidity, and non-functional decor of traditional systems while preserving traceability and scrutiny. At its core, CITE is a modular structure for tracking how a concept evolved from source → function → system. It encodes mutation as an intentional part of knowledge design. In a way, it makes knowledge have a version control where people can collaborate and trace information mutation from its origin. It makes sure knowledge is actually used with accountability by design and not just stuck in a dusting library.

Warped to Use

The Way CITE is Formatted Each Entry is structured as Information Blocks:

Title

Field of Origin: The Discipline it came from Field Covered on this Block: Disciplines that it become to serve Block Version:

Basic Concepts - What are the basics of the idea? How does it work?

Strip to Function - What is the core functionality of the idea when the context is stripped?

Warped to Use - How It was used or transformed into a new idea

Citation APA Format citation of the original material, and other origins of concept that was alchemized

In CommIT, CITE serves as the default epistemic DNA format—a system that holds contributors accountable by design, not enforcement. It replaces centralized bibliographies with modular, self-contained citation units, ensuring every idea is:

  • Traceable, with a clear lineage of transformation

  • Deconstructed and rebuilt with visible intention

  • Auditable, enabling scrutiny at any point in its lifecycle

  • Open, citing only publicly accessible sources—no paywalls, no gatekeeping

Why CITE Isn’t Just About Credibility—It’s About Visibility of Thought

In an age where AI can generate polished text instantly, the challenge isn’t producing content—it’s proving you actually thought. CITE doesn't merely enforce citation ethics; it acts as a cognitive fingerprinting system. It reveals how raw ideas mutate, how they're digested, challenged, and reconstructed. Even if AI is used as a thinking partner, CITE traces the human behind the synthesis. It rewards cognitive transparency over eloquence, reasoning chains over isolated brilliance, and makes it possible to distinguish shallow generation from authentic engagement. Ironically, you might even use AI to help phrase the result—but the structure of CITE ensures your unique thinking still shows through. That’s the point. It makes intellectual effort visible—even when the tools get smarter.

Each CITE block operates as a mini-Cycle:

Initiation → Challenge → Mutation → Documentation → Review→Update→Repeat Capturing not just what was cited, but how it was reformed. These units, known as CITE Blocks, are designed to be modular, mutable, and permanently exposed to scrutiny. They are expected to evolve—or expire. As facts shift and understandings refine, outdated blocks must be updated or phased out. Obsolescence is not failure; it is function. The system thrives by shedding what no longer holds relevance.

Even this CITE block—by design—is subject to that same fate.

Citations

The Mathematical 37% Sequential Decision Making Rule

Field of Origin: Mathematics, Optimal Stopping Theory Field Covered: Mathematics, Psychology, Lived Observation Block Version: 1.0

Basic Concepts

The Optimal Stopping Theory

The 37% Rule emerges from a branch of mathematics known as optimal stopping theory, which addresses the fundamental decision-making challenge of knowing when to cease gathering information and make a final choice. The derivation of the 37% benchmark stems from solving an optimization problem in probability theory. The practical application of the 37% Rule follows a straightforward process that can be adapted to various decision scenarios. The implementation consists of two distinct phases: the exploration phase and the decision phase.

The Exploration Phase

During the exploration phase, you systematically review but reject the first 37% of available options. For example, if you're deciding between 100 possibilities, you would examine the first 37 without committing to any. This calibration period is not passive; it's an active learning process where you're building an internal model of what constitutes a "good" option in your specific context.

The Decision Phase

After completing the exploration phase, you enter the decision phase, where the rule provides clear guidance: select the very next option that surpasses the best option you encountered during the exploration phase. This approach elegantly solves the exploration-exploitation tradeoff that challenges decision-makers. By front-loading exploration and then committing to exploitation at the mathematically optimal moment, the rule maximizes your chances of selecting the best option overall.

Strip to Function

The 3 and 7 as a Number

The numbers 3 and 7 have historically held symbolic weight, but in this context, we examine them not through mysticism, but through their psychological and decision-making implications. Numbers 3 and 7 were taken, while it remains in the context of decision making, it was also taken along with the perception around the numbers themselves In Veritasium’s video Why is this number everywhere? The so-called “Blue-Seven Phenomenon” highlights that when people are asked to choose a number between 1 and 10, 7 is disproportionately chosen, often due to its perceived randomness or uniqueness. Similarly, the number 3 appears frequently in design, rhetoric, and user experience—as in the rule of three—suggesting a cognitive preference for triads. When framed as a ratio, 3:7 introduces a dynamic contrast between intuitive simplicity (3) and perceived complexity or randomness (7). This could parallel decision-making frameworks: 3 representing clear, structured choices; 7 embodying the illusion of freedom or variability.

Warped to Use

The 3:7 Ratio's First Emergence in CommIT

  • Scrutiny must be structured. The 70/30 ratio ensures that every decision undergoes both challenge and validation.

    • If 70% support a decision, an idea, or a system, 30% must challenge it.

    • If 70% reject a decision, an idea, or a system, 30% must highlight its strengths

    • More on CommIT : Praxis

The Dance of Trust, Risk, and Convergence

CommIT treats the 3 and 7 not as static numbers, but as perceptual containers for trust, risk, adaptation, and convergence. They're redefined from their statistical roots into modular cognitive tempos. The conceptual rhythm and convergence of chaos and synthesis

At its core, the 3:7 ratio in CommIT is about managing competing demands:

  • Trust (7) Trust in the system, the people, and the process to take bold steps and make decisions based on the available data. This phase provides stability, allowing it to settle for a while before iteration introduces revisions. The slower pace reduces cognitive fatigue and lowers resistance to change. It also ensures the system remains backwards compatible, giving space for those who might struggle to keep up with rapid iterations, making the system accessible and sustainable for a broader range of participants.

  • Risk (3) Involves embracing uncertainty and the unknown. It’s the phase where you're often working with incomplete data, making decisions that could either validate your approach or lead to failure. This willingness to fail, adjust, and move on quickly allows the system to adapt to challenges and a fast-moving environment. Just as stability (7) provides a foundation for settling, risk (3) ensures that the system remains flexible and dynamic, never allowing it to become stagnant. Adaptability in this phase is crucial for the system's evolution, pushing it forward even as it learns from its missteps.

When this ratio is applied correctly, the system reflects adaptive intelligence—where the iterations represent cognitive feedback loops, with each step improving the decision-making process based on real-world data and direct outcomes. The numbers 3 and 7 thus take on a new form within the CommIT system. It’s no longer about their inherent mystical properties; instead, they represent a dynamic balancing act, constantly shifting between trust (7), which stabilizes decision-making, and risk (3), which drives innovation and adaptation. Leaning too heavily toward either side—100% trust or 100% risk—leads to absolution(Dunning-Kruger Effect), where decisions become rigid or reckless. A 50/50 split leads to indecision, paralysis by analysis. The 7:3 ratio strikes the perfect balance, ensuring both stability and flexibility, enabling a system that is both grounded and adaptable, avoiding extremes while maintaining forward momentum.

CommIT adopted this ratio into its Iterative Speed Framework

  • Ascent Mode (3:7) uses a high-speed test-refine approach: 3 months, 7 iterations.

  • Bastion Mode (7:3) slows this down for sustainability: 7 months, 3 iterations.

Citations

Poppins Font → The Face of Iteration and Systems Clarity

Field of Origin: Graphics Design, Typeface and Typography Field Covered in Function: Visual Branding, UX Coherence Block Version: 1.0

Basic Concepts

Poppins is a geometric sans-serif font developed by Indian Type Foundry. It follows the lineage of Bauhaus, a design movement that fused function and form—emphasizing minimalism, legibility, and human-centered design. Bauhaus believed structure should be invisible in use but precise in logic—every part must serve purpose, not ornament.

Strip to Function

Bauhaus teaches that:

  • Clarity = Usability

  • Form follows function

  • A system's beauty comes from its internal logic made visible

The geometric nature of Poppins implies grid-consistency, repeatable structure, and spatial stability. It communicates intentionality through minimalism.

Warped to Use

CommIT chose Poppins as its branding font because it visually encodes its philosophical DNA:

  • The consistent line weight = equal scrutiny across domains

  • Rounded terminals = soft systems, not authoritarian rigidity

  • Balanced geometry = stability through recursion

Even without reading CommIT, the font invites perception of precision without hostility. It's a cognitive gateway: clear, circular, iterative—just like the Cycle.

Citations

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