Cut by Dimension

Sometimes one word is being forced to carry far too much machinery.

“My relationship is bad.”

“AI is dangerous.”

“My refrigerator sucks.”

Okay.

Bad how? Dangerous how? Sucks how?

That question is the beginning of a dimensional cut.

A dimension is simply one quality of the larger thing that you can examine separately.

Example: A Relationship

“Is this a good relationship?” can swallow a lot of different questions:

• Do we trust each other?

• Is there affection?

• Can we disagree safely?

• Do we respect each other’s autonomy?

• Are we reliable?

• Do we repair things after conflict?

• Are we sexually compatible?

• Do we feel physically safe with each other?

Those dimensions do not have to move together.

You can have enormous affection and terrible conflict safety.

You can trust somebody deeply and still be incompatible.

You can also ask the question in both directions:

Am I receiving these things?

Am I providing them?

That gives you something much more useful than one giant verdict about whether the whole relationship is “good” or “bad.”

Example: Technology

“Is this technology dangerous?”

Maybe.

Danger has dimensions too:

• How likely is something to go wrong?

• How severe would the harm be?

• How reversible is it?

• Who would be affected?

• How quickly could the harm happen?

• Under what conditions does the risk increase or decrease?

A technology can be low-risk along one dimension and extremely concerning along another.

“Dangerous” was not wrong.

It was incomplete.

Example: The Refrigerator

“This refrigerator sucks.”

Excellent. The prosecution may proceed.

But first:

• Does it keep food cold?

• Is it reliable?

• Is it loud?

• Does it use too much electricity?

• Is the layout annoying?

• Does the freezer work?

• Is it difficult to clean?

Maybe the refrigerator does not, in fact, suck in every known dimension of refrigerator existence.

Maybe one drawer just deserves to be tried at The Hague.

More importantly, now you know what you would actually want changed.

When to Try This Cut

Use a dimensional cut when you catch yourself giving an entire complicated thing one global rating:

• good / bad

• healthy / unhealthy

• successful / unsuccessful

• safe / dangerous

• smart / stupid

• happy / unhappy

You may still decide the overall judgment is justified.

But first, find out what it contains.

Bad how?

That tiny question can open the whole machine.

FOLLOW THE WIRES