Mind · Reasoning

Estimate

Predictive resource costing

Definition

Mechanism

The predictive Think process of calculating the probable Value cost of a Task before execution. Two modes: HeuristicSnap for fast rough estimates, Simulation for accurate expensive ones. Outputs a Bid carrying an interval, its coverage, and the reference class it was drawn from. Consumes Budget.

Invariants

  1. The interval states the coverage it claims.
  2. The estimate names its reference class, or records that it had none.
  3. The estimator is given its allowance from Budget before starting, and returns on reaching it.

Risks

Failure modes

  1. Overconfidence

    intervals narrower than the evidence supports.

  2. Anchoring

    estimates biased by irrelevant prior information.

  3. Planning Fallacy

    systematic underestimation of time and cost.

  4. Allowance exhausted

    returns a wide interval a caller may read as a point estimate.

Relationships

Builds on

Accepts

Infrastructure

Task

The atomic unit of intent

Composes with

Think

Atomic cognitive step

References

Infrastructure

Budget

Resource allocation limit

HeuristicSnap

Rapid, low-cost decision making via pattern recognition

Infrastructure

Value

A measure of utility

Yields

Society

Bid

Binding offer from solver to execute task

Used by

Composes with

Fermi

Estimation via decomposition

References

MarginalValueRule

Deepen only while expected improvement plus an exploration credit, divided by incremental cost, exceeds a domain threshold

Reference

Parameters

estimation_allowance Ratio, (0.0, 1.0]
Share of the task's budget the estimator may spend.
target_coverage Ratio, (0.0, 1.0)
Coverage the published interval claims, e.g. 0.8 or 0.95.

Signature

  • Think(Value)

Identity

Ref
Estimate#3bac
Sema ID
sema:Estimate#mh:SHA-256:3bacc0606623a0603b271a835b54157c2e86389c4282af86d88cd1ddd9ecf917
Ring
1
Tier
1
Updated
2026-11-11
Supersedes
  • sema:Estimate#mh:SHA-256:bb3078fc4f974c17821e162f0034230b653c9ebd70c4655e86924d1292b1d449
  • sema:Estimate#mh:SHA-256:28d2e9662fc904a5d5662b8b532a2c14a7ed47f8cda950a58875e07f249207df
  • sema:Estimate#mh:SHA-256:ae720093041b7c69a7131328b912157311dc43e4491a2125c5da449482c77b94
  • sema:Estimate#mh:SHA-256:0f4428479417ff278eec7ffe9149e65049956fe2f4bfd5d3f8ebdd0b708428fd