Necessity-Sufficiency Strategy

PNS/PS framework: classify each factor by its causal role — necessary, sufficient, both, or neither.

Method

1. causal-claim-extraction identifies all causal claims
2. factor-enumeration lists candidate causes
3. necessity-evaluation tests: would conclusion fail WITHOUT this factor? (PN)
4. sufficiency-evaluation tests: would this factor ALONE produce conclusion? (PS)
5. single-factor-removal provides evidence for necessity judgments
6. load-bearing-identification classifies factors into quadrants

Classification Quadrants

• Necessary + Sufficient: Load-bearing walls (removal collapses conclusion)
• Necessary + Not Sufficient: Required but not enough alone
• Not Necessary + Sufficient: Redundant paths to conclusion
• Neither: Decorative factors (safe to vary)

Budget Table

| Parameter | S | M | L | |---|---|---|---| | Factors tested | 5 | 10 | 20 | | Necessity evaluations | 3 | 6 | 12 | | Sufficiency evaluations | 3 | 6 | 12 |

Orchestration

causal-claim-extraction → factor-enumeration
→ [for each factor]:
    necessity-evaluation (PN score)
    + sufficiency-evaluation (PS score)
    + single-factor-removal (supporting evidence)
→ load-bearing-identification (quadrant classification)

Subagents

• causal-claim-extraction (claim identification)
• factor-enumeration (candidate listing)
• necessity-evaluation (PN scoring)
• sufficiency-evaluation (PS scoring)
• single-factor-removal (evidence generation)
• load-bearing-identification (classification)

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Available Tactics

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

| Tactic | When to use | | --- | --- | | causal-necessity-testing | Tactic: Extract causal claims, evaluate probability of necessity (PN) and sufficiency (PS) for each, classify into necessity-sufficiency quadrants. | | systematic-factor-ablation | Tactic: List all factors, remove one at a time, assess conclusion stability, rank factors by load-bearing importance. |

Available SOPs

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

| SOP | When to use | | --- | --- | | causal-claim-extraction | Extract all causal claims (X causes Y, X leads to Y, X enables Y) from an artifact, producing a structured list of cause-effect pairs. | | factor-enumeration | List all key factors, conditions, and assumptions that support or enable the artifact's conclusion. | | load-bearing-identification | Identify which factors are "load-bearing walls" — factors whose removal would collapse the conclusion. | | necessity-evaluation | Evaluate the probability of necessity (PN) for a causal factor — would the conclusion fail if this factor were absent? | | single-factor-removal | Remove one specified factor from the artifact's support structure and reason about how the conclusion changes. | | sufficiency-evaluation | Evaluate the probability of sufficiency (PS) for a causal factor — would this factor alone be enough to produce the conclusion? |

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