# Distill

I need to internalize **[TOPIC]**. Not summarize it. Internalize it. Strip away everything that is context, filler, or nice-to-know, and give me only what I need to hold in my head to actually think and operate with this knowledge.

## Step 1: What are the 3 to 5 ideas that load-bear this entire topic?

Every topic has a small number of core ideas that everything else hangs off of. Find them.

For each core idea:
- State it in one sentence
- Explain why it matters in one more sentence
- Give the simplest concrete example that makes it click

Do not list 10 things. If you have more than 5, you haven't figured out which ones are truly foundational and which ones are derived from the foundational ones. Derived ideas go in Step 2.

## Step 2: What patterns repeat?

Most topics have 2 to 4 recurring patterns that show up over and over in different forms. These are the things where, once you see the pattern, you start recognizing it everywhere.

For each pattern:
- Name it (give it a short, memorable label)
- Describe the shape of the pattern in 2 to 3 sentences
- Give 2 examples of it showing up in different contexts within this topic
- Explain what it looks like when this pattern breaks down or is violated

## Step 3: What is the mental model?

If I had to draw this topic on a whiteboard in under 60 seconds, what would I draw? Describe the mental model:

- What are the components?
- How do they relate to each other? (flows into, depends on, trades off against, contains)
- Where is the tension? Every interesting topic has at least one fundamental tension or trade-off at its center. Name it.

Describe this as a simple diagram I could sketch: boxes, arrows, and labels. Not a paragraph. If you can describe the model in a paragraph, it's not visual enough.

## Step 4: What do people get wrong?

List the 3 to 5 most common misconceptions, over-simplifications, or traps that people fall into with this topic. For each:

- State the misconception
- Explain why it's wrong or incomplete
- State what is actually true

Focus on mistakes that smart people make, not obvious beginner errors.

## Step 5: What is the minimum viable vocabulary?

List only the terms where not knowing the word would block comprehension. For each:

- The term
- A one-sentence definition written in plain language
- How it connects to the core ideas from Step 1

If a term can be understood from context or replaced with a common word, skip it. This is not a glossary. It is the 8 to 12 words you need before you can read anything else on this topic without stopping.

## Step 6: Where should I focus first?

If I have limited time and need to go deeper, tell me:

- What is the single most important sub-topic to understand thoroughly? Why?
- What can I safely ignore until later? Why is it lower priority?
- What is the one paper, post, talk, or book chapter that is the highest signal-to-noise way to go deeper? (Name something specific and real. If you don't know of one, say so.)

## Rules

- Ruthlessly cut. If something is interesting but not essential for operating with this knowledge, leave it out.
- This is not a summary. A summary compresses everything proportionally. This is a distillation: keep only what matters, discard the rest entirely.
- Do not explain things I already understand from the core ideas. If Step 1 covers a concept, don't re-explain it in Step 3.
- Prefer accuracy over accessibility. Do not dumb things down to the point of being wrong. If a nuance matters, keep it.
- If the topic is genuinely simple and doesn't have 5 core ideas or 4 repeating patterns, say so and give fewer. Do not pad.
- Every sentence should pass the test: "Would I lose something important if I deleted this?" If no, delete it.