A blend should be locked when it repeatedly meets its target and further controlled adjustments fail to produce a material improvement over the prior best.
A rigid numerical threshold may imply false precision; the rule should combine structured sensory evidence with an explicit decision record.
Lost Lantern identifies knowing when to stop as one of blending’s hardest judgments. A predeclared rule converts that judgment into a reproducible gate: compare the candidate with the control and prior best across repeated sessions, define what counts as a meaningful improvement, and stop when changes only trade one acceptable nuance for another.
Synthesized from the Lost Lantern source cluster processed on 2026-08-29; the material-improvement threshold remains provisional pending sensory-method evidence.
A Zettel is one durable idea in your own words—not a quotation, source summary, or draft-book claim.
Atomic idea
State one complete idea. It should be understandable on its own and specific enough to connect to other notes.
Reasoning
Explain why the idea is true or useful in Rationale and Implications. Record meaningful objections or exceptions in Counterpoints.
Provenance
Connect one or more Literature Notes. Direct source relations are legacy-only; trace evidence through the literature-note and excerpt chain.
Connections
Apply approved Tags for retrieval and one or more Themes only when the note genuinely advances those interpretive threads.