Reusable cognitive primitives
Stocks and flows
A stock is an amount that accumulates; flows are the rates that add to or drain it. The stock changes only when inflow and outflow differ.
Where it appears
Dependencies & synergies
Derived from the graph’s real structure — 37 concepts across 43 disciplines carry this pattern. Every figure is a count, not a score.
How many concepts carrying this pattern are seen through each discipline.
Other thinking patterns that recur on the same concepts — the more shared concepts, the more often they co-occur.
What kinds of relationships the carrying concepts form — the relational signature of the pattern.
Concepts where this pattern does the most cross-disciplinary work — each reaches disciplines beyond its own.
- Energy transferreachesAcousticsAgricultureBiochemistryBiophysicsCell BiologyChemistryEcologyEconomicsEnvironmental ScienceMechanical EngineeringMechanicsOceanographyOpticsOrganic ChemistryPhysiologyPolitical EconomyPolitical PhilosophySociologyStatistical PhysicsSustainability ScienceSystems BiologyThermodynamics
- PhotosynthesisreachesAgricultural EngineeringBotanyCell BiologyEcologyEconomicsEngineeringEnvironmental EngineeringEnvironmental ScienceGeographyGeologyMarine BiologyMicrobiologyNutrition ScienceOceanographyOrganic ChemistryPhysicsSustainability Science
- CyclereachesChemistryClimatologyCognitive ScienceDesignEcologyEconomicsEducationEducational ScienceEnvironmental ScienceGeographyGeologyMachine LearningMathematicsMechanicsSustainability Science
- EnergyreachesAstronomyBiologyChemistryEarth & Space SciencesEnergy EngineeringEngineeringEnvironmental EngineeringMechanical EngineeringMechanicsNutrition SciencePlasma PhysicsThermodynamics
- MetabolismreachesArchitectureBioinformaticsBiophysicsChemical EngineeringChemistryEngineeringEnvironmental EngineeringGeometryMathematicsMicrobiologyPhysics
- SystemreachesAtmospheric ScienceComplexity ScienceEconomicsEnvironmental ScienceGeographyHuman-Computer InteractionMathematicsMeteorologyPhysicsSociologySystems Biology
Carrying concepts that others in the same pattern build on (they depend on or follow from these).
- Carbon dioxide (CO₂) — 1 other concept build on it
- Convection — 1 other concept build on it
- Energy — 1 other concept build on it
Examples across disciplines
Atmospheric CO₂ is a stock; photosynthesis drains it and respiration and burning fill it.
A country's food supply is a stock fed by production and drained by consumption.
How this pattern travels
Interpreted from where the pattern recurs in the atlas — structural transfer and coverage, not a claim it is universally the "best" model.
Recurs across 43 disciplines over 37 carrier concepts — a broadly transferable pattern.
structural · Structural recurrence in the atlas — a pattern is a reasoning lens, not a law.
18 of its 37 carrier concepts are themselves cross-disciplinary connectors.
structural · Structural recurrence in the atlas — a pattern is a reasoning lens, not a law.
Explicit "where it breaks" notes exist for 1 of 3 annotated assignments.
curated · Curated boundary annotations — absence is a representation gap, not evidence the model has no limits.
Currently dark in the atlas: no origin recorded.
atlas representation · Describes the current Thinking OS representation, not the model itself.
Coverage matrix
How these concepts distribute across domains and concept families — real counts, not a score.
The statistical fingerprint
How the 37 concepts that exercise this pattern distribute — from the graph, not a ranking.
Disciplinary fingerprint
Carrier concepts under each illuminating lens.
How settled its carriers are
Epistemic status of the concepts that exercise this pattern.
Where the model breaks
This pattern is a reasoning lens, not a law. Here is where it stops helping:
- Biodegradation (mechanism): Stock-and-flow accounting tracks the level and rates, but not the microbial kinetics or the persistent fraction that never degrades on human timescales.
1 of 3 explained assignments cite a source; the rest are editorial interpretations. None is externally validated.
✕ That a large inflow always means a rising stock — it only rises if inflow exceeds outflow.
Journeys where it shows up
You have seen this model in one place. Where else could it apply — and where would the analogy break?
Carbon cycle →Think of a bathtub: the water level (stock) rises or falls depending on the tap (inflow) and the drain (outflow).
- Recurs across 43 disciplines.
- 108 concepts exercise this thinking pattern.
- 1 of them explicitly note where the model breaks down.
- It is practised in 2 learning journeys.
Derived from the graph — a pattern is a reasoning lens, not a law.
Is what you are watching a level that accumulates or a rate that fills and drains it — and would the level keep rising even as the inflow slows?
Keep this question handy when you meet something new — it helps you notice the pattern, not just name it.