A toolkit for generating questions from claims—distinct from the Idea Compass.
Why Two Toolkits?
| Toolkit | Purpose | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| The Idea Compass (N/E/S/W) | Connecting ideas to other ideas | Building atomic notes, linking knowledge |
| Seven Lenses | Interrogating claims | Pre-reading, generating questions from LOs |
The Compass asks: “What relates to this idea?” The Lenses ask: “What’s hidden inside this claim?”
The Seven Lenses
1. Mechanism
Question: “HOW does [verb] happen? What’s the process?”
Catches: Process verbs—emerges, facilitates, gives rise to, produces, coordinates
Example:
- Claim: “Money facilitates trade”
- Question: “HOW does money facilitate? What does it do that barter doesn’t?“
2. Actors
Question: “WHO does this? Who decides? Who benefits? Who loses?”
Catches: Hidden agency—LOs often describe processes without naming participants
Example:
- Claim: “Decentralized decisions create order”
- Questions: “Who makes these decisions? Consumers? Firms? Who benefits from this order? Who might prefer a different arrangement?“
3. Conditions
Question: “What if [condition] changed?”
Catches: Boundary testing—large→small, decentralized→centralized, stable→unstable
Example:
- Claim: “Large number of decisions leads to self-organization”
- Questions: “What if only a few decisions? What if decisions are centralized? What breaks?“
4. Scale
Question: “Does this hold at different levels? Individuals? Firms? Economies?”
Catches: Level-of-analysis assumptions—what’s true micro may not be true macro (and vice versa)
Example:
- Claim: “Specialization increases productivity”
- Questions: “For an individual worker? A firm? A whole country? Does it work the same way at each level?“
5. Sequence
Question: “What has to happen FIRST? What depends on what?”
Catches: Temporal and causal order—which causes which, what’s prerequisite
Example:
- Claim: “Money facilitates trade”
- Questions: “Did trade exist before money? Does money require trade to have value, or does trade require money? Which comes first?“
6. Trade-offs
Question: “What’s the cost? What’s sacrificed to get this?”
Catches: Hidden opportunity costs—every benefit has a price
Example:
- Claim: “Specialization increases efficiency”
- Questions: “What do we give up by specializing? (flexibility? self-sufficiency? resilience?) What’s the cost of NOT specializing?“
7. Scope
Question: “Why ‘all’? Why ‘always’? When is this NOT universal?”
Catches: Absolute words—all, every, always, must, never, necessarily
Example:
- Claim: “All actual economies are mixed economies”
- Questions: “Why ALL? Has there ever been a pure market or pure command economy? What makes purity impossible?”
Quick Reference Card
| Lens | Trigger Words | Question Stem |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanism | emerges, facilitates, produces, causes, leads to | ”HOW does…?” |
| Actors | decisions, economy, market, trade | ”WHO does…? Who benefits?” |
| Conditions | large, many, decentralized, stable | ”What if [opposite]?” |
| Scale | economy, market, individual, firm | ”At what level? Does it change?” |
| Sequence | gives rise to, leads to, enables | ”What comes first? What depends on what?” |
| Trade-offs | increases, improves, facilitates | ”What’s sacrificed? What’s the cost?” |
| Scope | all, always, every, must, necessarily | ”When does this NOT hold?” |
Workflow Integration
After structural parsing (Decomposing LOs with Structural Parsing):
1. Identify the claim(s) in the LO
2. Run through lenses quickly (30 sec each)
3. Capture 2-3 questions that feel most relevant
4. Prioritize: Must / Should / Nice to have
You don’t need all seven for every claim. Scan for which lenses have traction.
Applied Example
LO: “Explain how specialization gives rise to the need for trade and how trade is facilitated by money.”
Claims identified:
- Specialization → need for trade
- Money → facilitates trade
Lens scan for Claim 1:
| Lens | Question |
|---|---|
| Mechanism | HOW does specialization create the need? (I can only make one thing → must trade for others) |
| Actors | Who specializes? Who trades with whom? |
| Conditions | What if no one else specialized? What if trade is blocked? |
| Trade-offs | What do we lose by specializing? (self-sufficiency, flexibility) |
Lens scan for Claim 2:
| Lens | Question |
|---|---|
| Mechanism | HOW does money facilitate? What problem does it solve? |
| Sequence | Which came first—money or trade? |
| Conditions | What if money is unstable or untrusted? |
| Scope | Does money ALWAYS facilitate? When might barter be better? |
Relationship to Idea Compass
| Compass Direction | Overlapping Lens | Distinct Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| North (origins) | Sequence | Compass asks “where from?” / Sequence asks “what order?” |
| East (opposites) | Conditions, Scope | Compass asks “what contrasts?” / Lenses ask “when does it fail?” |
| South (implications) | Trade-offs | Compass asks “where does it lead?” / Trade-offs asks “what’s the cost?” |
| West (similarities) | — | No lens equivalent—Compass is stronger here |
Use both:
- Lenses: When decomposing claims pre-reading
- Compass: When building atomic notes post-understanding
North: Where this comes from
- Decomposing LOs with Structural Parsing (the parsing method this extends)
- Question Generation SOP (systematic question creation)
- Socratic Method (questioning to reveal assumptions)
East: What opposes this?
- Taking Claims at Face Value (accepting without interrogation)
- Single-Question Approach (one question per LO, missing depth)
South: Where this leads
- Five-Phase Study Workflow Phase 1 (richer question generation)
- Critical Reading (reading to interrogate, not just absorb)
West: What’s similar?
- The Idea Compass (complementary toolkit for different purpose)
- First Principles Thinking (breaking down to fundamentals)
- 5 Whys (iterative questioning to find root)