Tool Extension Theorem

When a cognitive tool's capability boundary advances, the categories of problems a user can solve expand nonlinearly—not through increased problem difficulty, but through redefining problem nature itself and reaching into previously inaccessible domains.

Articles on this principle

• Breaking Ten Mathematical Puzzles with $2,000 in Computing Power: When the Boundary of Cognitive Tools Becomes the Boundary of Humanity

  *When AI proves a century-old mathematical conjecture at a cost a biology undergraduate can afford—we're still asking "will AI steal jobs," but the real question is: which discipline gets redefined next?*