Mind · Reasoning

CognitiveEcho

Estimating difficulty via simulation variance

Definition

Mechanism

Variance-Based Effort Estimation: Agent runs N rapid, low-fidelity simulations of the task. If outcomes diverge significantly, it triggers decomposition. Ping the problem before solving it. High variance in simulation implies hidden complexity. Process: (1) Generate N quick solution sketches, (2) Measure outcome variance, (3) If variance > threshold, decompose; else execute simplest solution.

Preconditions

  1. Feedback loop enabled
  2. Input signal

Postconditions

  1. Signal amplified or validated

Invariants

  1. Delay does not exceed short-term memory bounds
  2. Echo content matches input semantic hash

Risks

Failure modes

  1. Correlated Hallucination

    All simulations are wrong in the exact same way (low variance, high error).

  2. The simulation model might be too simple to catch edge cases (false negative).

  3. Simulation cost may exceed just trying the task for truly simple problems.

  4. Sample count is arbitrary - tuning required.

Relationships

Builds on

References

Agent

Autonomous Goal-Directed Entity

Infrastructure

Signal

Raw information emission

Nothing in this library builds on this pattern yet.

Reference

Identity

Ref
CognitiveEcho#c84c
Sema ID
sema:CognitiveEcho#mh:SHA-256:c84c09c719fa97e50268c901a737cf5812e92cfe9d8f81b69d4a5e511d565954
Ring
2
Tier
1
Updated
2026-11-11
Supersedes
  • sema:CognitiveEcho#mh:SHA-256:4a95eb01f8da6218a9e6a63ab78128286771cc9cc9e9f9716892177fa3af3758
  • sema:CognitiveEcho#mh:SHA-256:ae14cdfccac0833037b3e3efed7c259cac9f4cbb3aa2c0279ffd6fb546b668b8
  • sema:CognitiveEcho#mh:SHA-256:9e10b92d9178aa5933b360f02fd1a7783328f042f9d190df36863e9701a943ed