The Staircase Of A Threshold
Eight optional items and a rule saying how many are needed. The nine thresholds produce a staircase that is flat in the middle and steep at both ends.
Reference
Thresholds
How many of them
The rule attached to a list decides far more than its length.
Part two
9 notes in this part
A Threshold Of None, And What It Is For
Nine shapes in this record admit every profile. They look like lists and they filter nothing, and at least one of them is written every day.
Analysis
A Threshold Of All, Which Is Not Optional At All
Eight optional items requiring all eight admits one profile in two hundred and fifty-six — the same as eight compulsory items. The word optional did nothing.
Analysis
Half Of Them, Which Admits Most People
Four of eight optional items admits one hundred and sixty-three profiles in two hundred and fifty-six. The rule that sounds like a coin toss is not one.
Reference
Where The Staircase Turns Steep
Between four and seven of eight the intake falls from one hundred and sixty-three profiles to nine. Three steps, a factor of eighteen, nobody notices.
Analysis
Six Optional Items, One Compulsory One
Six optional items requiring three admits twenty-one profiles in thirty-two. One compulsory item admits sixteen. The shorter list is the stricter one.
Analysis
The Rule That Never Gets Written Down
The threshold decides more than anything else on the page and is the one element most often left unstated. That combination is not an accident.
Analysis
Why The Two Ends Are Not Mirror Images
A threshold of one and a threshold of seven are both one step from an extreme, and they behave nothing alike. The reason is where the profiles are.
Reference
Choosing A Threshold On Purpose
The threshold is the one parameter worth setting deliberately, and setting it takes under a minute. What the minute consists of.
Analysis