working assumptions
- premiseFoundation for logical argument
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
- baselineStandard for comparison
- frameworkUnderlying support system
- foundationUnderlying support structure
starting point · groundwork · bedrock · given · stipulation · presupposition · conjecture · scaffold · blueprint · guideline · provisional · tentative · untested · default · mental model · rule of thumb · heuristic · ballpark
epistemic status
working assumptionscertainties
Assured truths
known quantities · hard evidence · empirical evidence · axioms · first principles
cognitive function
working assumptionsparalysis by analysis
Inaction from excessive deliberation
closed questions · agnosticism · foregone conclusions · blind spots