clarity-reveal-mechanism

Show how and why things work. Exposes causal structure rather than just describing what happens. Distinguishes correlation from causation. Use when: (1) explaining why something happens but only describing what happens without showing the causal pathway, (2) encountering correlation and needing to determine whether causal connection exists or if both are caused by something else, (3) debugging a problem and jumping to solutions without understanding the mechanism producing the problem, (4) describing a process by listing components without explaining what they do or how they interact, (5) needing to predict what will happen if conditions change and realizing descriptive knowledge doesn't support prediction, (6) evaluating an explanation and noticing it's circular, using the phenomenon to explain itself, (7) designing an intervention and needing to identify where in the causal chain to intervene for maximum effect, (8) encountering something that seems mysterious and suspecting that understanding is missing, not that mechanism is absent