Doctrine · Published 2026-07-10
Cite or say so
A lesson in making the basis for a judgment visible.
Before
A conclusion could appear without showing what supported it.
After
A conclusion names its evidence, or states that it is an inference.
Judgment is most useful when a reader can see where it came from. A confident sentence without a basis asks for trust without giving the reader a way to evaluate it.
The practice is deliberately simple. When a conclusion rests on code or a record, point to that basis. When the basis does not establish the conclusion, name the uncertainty instead of filling the gap with a polished guess. This does not make every decision easy; it makes the boundary of a decision legible.
That boundary matters when work is reviewed, revisited, or handed to someone who was not present for the original conversation. Evidence makes the judgment inspectable. Candor makes the remaining uncertainty inspectable too.
Adopted doctrine
Cite the basis for a judgment. If the basis is incomplete, say so plainly.
Public evidence