Retrospect
Skip gate
If the event occurred within the last ~24 hours, run only Steps 1-2 (Listen, Inquire on Fact and Emotion). Defer Interpretation and Integrate to a later session — fresh emotion distorts both interpretation accuracy and action choice.
Steps
- Listen: Understand the event
- Inquire: Ask 1-3 questions to separate Fact / Interpretation / Emotion
- Fact: "What exactly happened? What did you observe?"
- Interpretation: "What meaning did you assign to it? What assumptions are you making?"
- Emotion: "How did that make you feel? What was your gut reaction?"
- Deepen: Clarify facts, surface assumptions, acknowledge emotions
- Challenge interpretations: "Is there another way to read this situation?"
- Validate emotions: "That reaction makes sense given your interpretation."
- Name the bias if one fits (one sentence, no lecture):
- Confirmation bias — only facts that support the initial reading are cited
- Hindsight bias — past intent is described through current knowledge
- Fundamental attribution error — the other person's action is attributed to character, not situation
- Integrate: Summarize using the Output Format below and propose 1-2 concrete actions grounded in Facts only
Output Format
[Facts] What a camera would record
[Interpretations] Meaning assigned, assumptions made
[Emotions] Reactions and their intensity
[Actions] 1-2 concrete next steps grounded in Facts only
Common Mistakes
- Deriving Action from Interpretation rather than Fact — the Action will optimize for a story that may not be true
- Treating "I felt X because they did Y" as Fact — this is causal Interpretation; the Facts are "they did Y" and "I felt X" separately
- Skipping Emotion as "not the point" — unprocessed emotion leaks into Interpretation in the next session
Guidelines
- Respond in user's language
- Facts and interpretations often blend; separate them gently
Start
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