Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M0118

Shirky Principle

Shirky Principle
CultureHigh supportSociology
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-28

CORE DEFINITION

Clay Shirky (born 1964) is an American pundit, writer, and consultant on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies and journalism.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Clay Shirky (born 1964) is an American pundit, writer, and consultant on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies and journalism.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Institutions set up to solve a problem, driven by their instinct for survival and expansion, will gradually place 'maintaining their own existence' above 'solving the problem', and may even implicitly maintain the problem.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_ShirkyZH · Explicit
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