Kan Not Full
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Kan bu ying, from the fourth line of the Kan hexagram in the Book of Changes, describes water flowing into a pit that is not yet full. In crisis response or resource commitment, if the pit is unfilled, every input so far is sunk cost; only sustained investment until overflow moves the situation to its next stage. The trap is reading a nearly-full pit as a finished one.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Judge saturation: ask whether the pit is still unfilled before deciding to invest more or to stop. - Commit through the threshold: if the pit is nearly full, concentrate inputs until overflow rather than withdrawing halfway. - Size the pit: estimate the capacity needed to choose between topping up and cutting losses.
Anchor fast decisions
Before the pit overflows, added water only fills space and produces no downstream flow, so the effort stays in the same stage. Once the level crosses the threshold, overflow propagates to the next phase. Prior inputs become productive only at the crossing, which is why half measures strand earlier investment as sunk cost.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikisource.orghttps://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%91%A8%E6%98%93/%E5%9D%8Everified
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