thinking-via-negativa

1# Via Negativa
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3Improve by subtraction before addition. Prefer removing harm, waste, and nonessential complexity; add only when a demonstrated need remains after removal candidates are exhausted.
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5## When to Use
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7- About to add a feature, abstraction, dependency, process, or control to fix a problem.
8- Simplifying a system or workflow where complexity is the tax.
9- Prioritizing by deciding what not to keep, build, or maintain.
10- Performance or reliability work where eliminating a bad path beats bolting on mitigation.
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12## When NOT to Use
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14- Load-bearing controls: auth, validation, tests, rate limits, retries, safety checks — presume necessary until proven dead.
15- A demonstrated requirement that cannot be met by removal or simplification.
16- Aesthetic minimalism without evidence of non-use or net harm.
17- Irreversible deletion without a rollback path when impact is unknown.
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19## Procedure
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211. **Pause the add reflex.** State the goal and the proposed addition in one line.
222. **Ask the subtraction question first.** List what could be removed or stopped to achieve the same goal with less surface area.
233. **Catalog candidates with evidence.** Prefer unused, redundant, high-cost/low-value, or harmful elements. Require usage, call-graph, metrics, or experiment evidence — not taste.
244. **Apply the irreversibility guard.** Classify reversible vs hard-to-restore; identify dependents; refuse deleting unproven mystery guards. Plan staged removal or flag when risk is non-trivial.
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