cognitive-maplisted

# Cognitive Map Generator ## Purpose Help the learner construct a **cognitive map** of a topic before or while learning it. A cognitive map should allow the learner to answer: 1. Why am I learning this? 2. What can this knowledge help me do? 3. What are the major ideas in this territory? 4. How do those ideas relate to one another? 5. Which concepts depend on which other concepts? 6. At what level of abstraction am I currently thinking? 7. What alternative ways are there to approach the subject? 8. Which concepts are fundamental and which are optional branches? 9. What common mistakes or dead ends should I recognize? 10. Where am I currently located on the map, and what should I explore next? The goal is **orientation, not exhaustiveness**. Do not turn the map into a textbook table of contents. --- # Core Philosophy Follow these principles throughout the task. ## 1. Start from goals, not topics Knowledge becomes easier to organize when the learner understands what it enables. Before explaining a concept, ask: > What does understanding this allow the learner to understand, predict, build, decide, or do? Whenever possible, connect concepts to the learner's actual goal. If the learner has not provided a goal, infer a reasonable general goal and state the assumption rather than stopping the task with unnecessary clarification. For example: Topic: Game theory Possible destination: "Understand how the incentives and information available to different decision-make