Examen.

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Today's examen

A decision, weighed.

Gut first, the kernel second, the outcome last.

Try

I Recollect

Which part of life?

What are you deciding?

A label for your journal — the kernel reads the sliders, not the words.

Your gut, before the kernel speaks

II Discern

The reading NERVA · v11.1 · live

The blue ring shows how clear your signal is — 48% · mostly clear

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Pick your gut read to arm the instrument — then describe the situation with the sliders below. The reading updates live as you drag.

              COMMITHOLDWAITCONSULTTOXIC
            

.00 CONF

.00 COHER

E eff±.00
r mixed.000
S vN.000
floor.55
raw measurements — reference only

One-way brake Desolation Blast consult Urgency

Signal — what the evidence says

Evidence direction±.00

strongly againststrongly for

Provenance.50

hearsayverified firsthand

Field — the conditions you're in

Uncertainty.40

legiblepure noise

Interference.20

clear-headeddesolation

Consequence — what acting costs

Stakes.50

lowcritical

Blast radius.20

only memany others

Time pressure.30

no deadlinewindow closing

One-Way Doorcannot be undone once taken

III Resolve

Your move — both are valid; the gap is the data.

How will you know this worked? — be falsifiable

What do you expect to happen? · optional

How sure are you? · optional

Check in on

Notes · optional

stored privately in your journal

Guide.

What this is

The examen is a centuries-old daily practice of review: recollect what happened, discern what it means, resolve what to do. This app rebuilds that practice as a decision instrument. You record a decision, your gut read, and your measurements of the situation; the kernel weighs them and applies the brakes; later, you score what actually happened. The point is not the verdict — it is the record.

How a reading works

Your written decision is a label for your journal. The kernel never reads your words — it reads the sliders.

Your gut comes first, and picking it is what arms the instrument. The machine stays silent until you have committed a first read it cannot sway.

Then you measure the situation, seven ways:

Evidence — which way the facts lean, for or against.

Provenance — how verified those facts are, from hearsay to firsthand.

Uncertainty — how legible the situation is; how much of it you can actually read.

Interference — how emotionally charged you are right now.

Stakes — how much this decision matters.

Blast radius — how many others bear the cost if it goes wrong.

Time pressure — how fast the window is closing.

The kernel multiplies; it does not average. One weak measurement caps the whole reading — strong evidence from an unverified source stays weak, however strong it feels. This is deliberate: the kernel is a brake, not an oracle. The held down by line under the verdict names whichever measurement is doing the holding.

The five verdicts

Commit — the evidence is for, the reading is clear, and confidence clears the floor for these stakes. Act.

Hold — the direction is favorable, but confidence sits below the commit floor. Keep gathering signal.

Wait — the reading is too noisy to act on, or leans against without being decisive. Let it develop.

Consult — a rule has fired; before you act, someone else needs to be in the room.

Toxic — the evidence weighs decisively against, with enough clarity to trust it. Do not proceed.

The four rules

One-Way Brake. Some doors close behind you. When a decision cannot be undone and confidence falls short of what the stakes demand, the kernel will not let a favorable lean carry you through — it forces Consult, so counsel comes before the irreversible step.

Desolation. Never make a change in desolation — a rule the instrument borrows from Ignatius of Loyola. When interference runs high, the reading may be sound, but you are in no state to act on it. The kernel demotes the verdict to Wait; take the reading again when the weather clears.

Blast Consult. When the cost of being wrong lands mostly on other people and your confidence is short of the commit floor, those who bear the cost get a voice. The kernel escalates to Consult.

Urgency. Sometimes waiting is itself a decision. When the window is closing on a reading that says Wait, deferral stops being neutral — the kernel says get counsel now instead.

Reading the instrument

The point is the state of your decision. Higher means the evidence leans for; lower, against. Its distance from center is confidence — the closer it comes to the dashed ring, the closer the reading is to commit territory for these stakes. A steady point is a coherent reading; a wandering one is decohered.

The blue ring is signal clarity — the fuller it runs, the cleaner your reading. The gauges and mono figures beneath are the raw numbers, exactly as the kernel computed them.

Closing the loop

When the kernel has spoken, you still choose: follow it or override it. Both are valid — the gap between your gut and the verdict is the data. Write down how you will know it worked, in a form that can fail; set a check-in date; and when it comes due, score what actually happened. Fifty scored outcomes will tell you more than any single verdict.

Your data

Entries are stored only in this browser, on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere; there is no account and no server.

That also means the journal is yours to lose: clearing this site's browsing data deletes it, and other devices will not see it.

A decision, weighed.

Review.

Insights.