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s4h-epistemology-limits

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Identifies what can't be known and why, then clarifies what can be established within those limits and reframes the question into its answerable part. Distinguishes fundamental limits (Gödel, underdetermination, observer effects), practical limits (evidence is unavailable, destroyed, or counterfactual), and conceptual limits (the question is malformed). Use when you say 'can this even be known', 'we keep investigating and it doesn't settle', 'is this question actually answerable', 'I need to know X but X might be unknowable', 'we have a hard epistemological limit here', or when investigation has been thorough but the question remains open.

skills/s4h-epistemology-limits/SKILL.md

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# Epistemology: Limits

Some questions resist investigation not because we haven't tried hard enough but because there is a structural limit on what can be established. Confusing "unknown yet" with "unknowable in principle" wastes resources and produces false hope. Confusing "unknowable in principle" with "unknowable at all" is equally wrong — it forecloses what *can* be established within the limit.

This skill classifies the type of limit, identifies what can still be established within it, and reframes the question into the answerable part. The goal is not to conclude "we can't know" — it's to be precise about what kind of knowing is and isn't available here.

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## Your Process

**Step 1: State What You're Trying to Know**
Write the question as precisely as possible. Then check: has investigation been thorough, or has the question just not been pursued rigorously? If it's the latter, this skill isn't the right one — use investigation tools first.

This skill applies when investigation has been done and the question remains open, or when you can see in advance that investigation won't settle it.
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