DIFR - Differentiation Reasoning

Input: $ARGUMENTS

Step 1: Identify the Things Being Compared

ITEM A: [first thing]
ITEM B: [second thing]
ADDITIONAL ITEMS: [if comparing more than two]
COMPARISON CONTEXT: [why these are being compared — what decision or understanding depends on the differences]

Context determines which differences matter. Two things can be “the same” in one context and “completely different” in another.

Step 2: List All Similarities

SIMILARITIES:
  1. [similarity] — DIMENSION: [what aspect this covers]
  2. [similarity] — DIMENSION: [aspect]
  3. [similarity] — DIMENSION: [aspect]
  ...

Start with similarities deliberately. This prevents the common error of treating superficially different things as fundamentally different. If two things share 90% of their properties, the remaining 10% is what actually distinguishes them.

Step 3: Identify Differences

DIFFERENCES:
  1. [difference]
     A IS: [how item A handles this]
     B IS: [how item B handles this]
     DIMENSION: [what aspect this difference covers]
  2. [difference]
     A IS: [description]
     B IS: [description]
     DIMENSION: [aspect]
  ...

Be precise. “A is better” is not a difference — it’s a judgment. “A processes 1000 requests/second, B processes 200” is a difference.

Step 4: Classify Differences

For each difference:

CLASSIFICATION: [difference]
  LEVEL: [trivial | significant | fundamental]
  CRITERIA:
    TRIVIAL: cosmetic, matters of taste, easily changed
    SIGNIFICANT: affects outcomes, requires adaptation, hard to change
    FUNDAMENTAL: defines the nature of the thing, cannot be changed without becoming something else

Fundamental differences are rare. Most differences people think are fundamental are actually significant or trivial. Be rigorous about this classification.

Step 5: Determine Which Differences Matter

CONTEXTUAL RELEVANCE:
  CONTEXT: [restate the comparison context from Step 1]

  DIFFERENCES THAT MATTER:
    1. [difference] — WHY IT MATTERS: [how this affects the decision or understanding]
       WEIGHT: [high | medium | low]
    2. [difference] — WHY IT MATTERS: [impact on context]
       WEIGHT: [level]

  DIFFERENCES THAT DON'T MATTER:
    1. [difference] — WHY IRRELEVANT: [why this doesn't affect the decision]
    2. [difference] — WHY IRRELEVANT: [reason]

Output Summary

DIFFERENTIATION ANALYSIS
========================
COMPARING: [A] vs [B]
CONTEXT: [why this comparison matters]

SHARED: [key similarities that establish common ground]

KEY DIFFERENCES (ranked by relevance):
  1. [most important difference] — [why it matters most]
  2. [second most important] — [why]
  3. [third] — [why]

FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES: [if any — differences in kind, not degree]
TRIVIAL DIFFERENCES: [differences to ignore]

BOTTOM LINE: [one-sentence statement of what truly distinguishes these things in this context]

Failure Modes

Failure	Signal	Fix
Skipping similarities	Jumping straight to differences	Similarities first — they frame what differences mean
Everything is fundamental	No trivial or significant differences found	Most differences are not fundamental — reclassify
Context-free differencing	Differences listed without relevance to a purpose	Differences only matter relative to a context
Judgment as difference	”A is better than B” stated as a difference	State the factual difference, then judge separately
Missing asymmetric differences	Only finding differences where both have something	Also check for things one has that the other lacks entirely

Integration

Use with: /agsk to analyze how different arguments differ in structure
Use with: /cmpr to check if the comparison is complete
Use with: /dtsk to differentiate data sets or data sources
Use from: /decide when choosing between similar options
Differs from /cmp: difr focuses on what makes things different; cmp compares to choose between them

difr - Differentiation Reasoning