Thesis

Purpose

Generate 3 thesis options that crystallize the core insight of the piece.

Read ../../references/context-contract.md and resolve available audience context, including optional AUDIENCE.md or a named shared guide. The explicit assignment audience takes precedence; missing audience context does not block the task.

Invocation

• /cw-thesis [context] — Generate theses for the specified topic/piece
• /cw-thesis — System asks "What's the piece about?" then generates options

What Makes a Good Thesis

A thesis should achieve several of these qualities:

Core Functions

• Reframes the familiar — Shows us something we thought we knew from a fresh angle
• Bridges domains — Connects ideas that don't usually talk to each other
• Names the unnamed — Articulates something we've felt but couldn't express
• Reveals hidden physics — Exposes the actual forces driving a situation
• Flips the script — Challenges conventional wisdom without being contrarian for sport

Forms It Might Take

• A coined term that actually helps us think (not jargon for jargon's sake)
• A paradox that reveals deeper truth
• A question that reframes the entire conversation
• Pattern recognition across unexpected domains
• A "yes, and..." that builds on existing ideas
• A synthesis that creates something genuinely new
• A distinction that clarifies muddy thinking
• A prediction grounded in observable shifts

Quality Checks

• Could someone build on this idea?
• Does it help readers see their own experience differently?
• Is it memorable without being gimmicky?
• Does it feel discovered rather than constructed?
• Would it spark a good dinner conversation?

How to Generate

1. Analyze the content — What's the core insight? What's the writer actually saying?

2. Select 3 approaches that fit. Consider:

   • What's the strongest version of this argument?
   • What framing would make this stickiest?
   • What would make a reader stop and think?

3. Generate one thesis per approach — Each should be 1-2 sentences that crystallize the insight.

4. Present all three with a brief note on the approach.

Output Format

## Thesis Options

### Option 1: [Brief description of approach]
[1-2 sentence thesis]

### Option 2: [Brief description of approach]
[1-2 sentence thesis]

### Option 3: [Brief description of approach]
[1-2 sentence thesis]

---

Which feels closest? Or want me to try a different angle?

Principles

• Arguable — Someone could disagree; it takes a position
• Specific — Not so broad it could apply to anything
• Sharp — Cuts through; not mushy or hedged
• Generative — Opens up thinking rather than closing it down

Lessons

[Skill-specific lessons will be added here as they're captured]