Reloop

Trace how an outcome feeds back into its own causes, so you can see why the problem keeps recreating itself after every fix.

Your inbox hits zero on Friday and is unmanageable again by Wednesday. You've tried filters, batching, declared email bankruptcy twice. Each fix works briefly, then the problem rebuilds itself, which is the signature of something your one-off fixes can't touch: the outcome is feeding its own causes. Fast replies train people to send you more email.

RELOOP means tracing how a result loops back into what produces it, so you see why the problem recreates itself after every fix. The cue: an outcome repeatedly regenerates its causes or shrugs off single interventions. Trace one consequence backward: quick replies signal availability, availability attracts requests, requests raise volume, volume pressures you into quicker replies. Mark the loop's sign (reinforcing, it amplifies), its delay (days), and any threshold or counter-loop. Prefer the smallest closed circuit that reproduces the pattern you observe. It works when the loop predicts the recurrence you've been living, and shows that the leverage point is your reply behavior, not your folder system. Two cautions from the spec: not every repeated event is a feedback loop, so demand a signed mechanism before you call it one; a circular story without one is just narrative.