Analogy Boundary Testing

Analogies are tools, not truths. The danger is not using an analogy — it is using one past its boundary. Analogies fail silently: the flaw is invisible until a decision has been made that depended on the part that didn't hold. This skill finds the boundary before that happens.

Your Process

Step 1: State the Analogy Write it explicitly: "X is like Y." Name the analogy being tested, the domain it comes from, and the claim being made on the basis of it.

Step 2: List Similarities What does the analogy capture correctly? List every genuine parallel — the aspects where the structural correspondence is real. This is not validation; it's establishing what the analogy is good for before finding what it isn't.