Cognitive Chunking

Miller's 7 plus or minus 2 rule is the limit on the number of "things" we can juggle at any one time. A cognitive scientist might calls these things "chunks". When we remember phone numbers we often break up the problem into "chunks" to make it easier: the country code (44) the locality (207) and the rest (450 0221). But cognitive chunks can apply to any "thing" - not just numbers. Cognitive chunking is an important strategy for managing short term memory. Mnemonics are a great example of chunking in action (e.g., FAQ, WYSIWYG etc). By compressing bigger ideas into atomic chunks we achieve cognitive compression and greater throughput! ;-)

The Goo must cognitively compress the artefacts (i.e., "things") you work with so they form manageable cognitive chunks. These chunks must be atomic in the context in which they appear - they shouldn't break apart while you're juggling them!

As a result of this, all artefacts (i.e., Things) in "The Goo" must have a "profile" which is a mentally digestable chunk.