Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M0155

Hofstadter's Law

Hofstadter's Law
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Even when Hofstadter's Law is taken into account, any task will always take longer than you expect.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Hofstadter's Law: The time required to complete a task is always longer than expected, even when the expectation includes Hofstadter's Law itself.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter's_lawZH · Explicit
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