Cognitive Scaffold

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MENTAL MODEL · M10163

Sturgeon's Law

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

CORE DEFINITION

Science fiction writer Sturgeon argued that about ninety percent of works in any field are of poor quality, used to counter the wholesale disparagement of a particular field.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Sturgeon's law states, "Ninety percent of everything is crap". The adage was coined by American science fiction author and critic Theodore Sturgeon while defending the merits of the genre. Sturgeon observed that most works in any field were low quality. Therefore, science fiction was not uniquely in…

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Theodore Sturgeon's famous saying: "Ninety percent of everything is crap." It reminds us that most output is mediocre, and we should focus on the valuable 10%. It serves as a sobering reminder for quality filtering (synonymous with 'Sturgeon's Law').

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_lawZH · Explicit
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