ICS Program Map
ICS Program Map
A stage-ordered path through the ICS program, linking the wiki notes that cover each stage. This is a
view over the theme-organized wiki (Dimensions, Self-Management, etc.) following the program’s own
Kickstart → High-yield → Growth sequence. Source corpus lives privately in raw/private/ICS (not linked
here); this map points to distilled wiki notes only.
[!note] Mappings confirmed against the program; gaps flagged Stage → wiki mappings are confirmed against the ICS stage pages. Remaining ⚠️ marks are genuine gaps — stages with source material but no wiki page yet — left visible as a synthesis backlog.
Related syntheses: ICS System · First Principles of Learning · How Top Performers Learn · Minimally Viable Learning System
Kickstart phase
Navigate the program; unlock the principles that make learning faster. The foundations that separate strugglers from high performers.
Introduction
Catalyst — retrieval as the fast win
High-yield phase
The techniques with the biggest payoff in the least time. Apply immediately; integrate over months.
| Mastery | 6–8 weeks |
| Impact | Immediate |
| Difficulty | Low–moderate |
| Technique range | Very high |
Rapid Start — prioritisation, time management, procrastination
- Procrastination a System Problem
- Time Management, Attention and Scheduling
- Attention Management Preserving Flow
Fundamentals — the basics that separate high performers
Key dimensions: retrieval, deep processing, mindset.
- Spaced Interleaved Retrieval · Interleaving Table — the SIR core
- Marginal Gains
- Are You Learning, or Just Using Techniques — “the problem with studying”
30-Day Plan — an ultra-strategic 30-day plan (challenges split by dimension)
- 30-Day Challenges (hub)
- 30-Day: Deep Processing · 30-Day: Mindset · 30-Day: Retrieval · 30-Day: Self-Management · 30-Day: Self-Regulation
Fundamentals 2 — the high-yield suite; master first if time-pressed
Key dimensions: deep processing, self-regulation, self-management, retrieval.
- Note-Taking · Revision · Study Scheduling · Rote Learning and Memorisation
- Exam Technique · Live Learning Events
Growth phase
Slower, deeper transformation — retrains how you encode and self-manage. Improvements over weeks/months.
| Mastery | 6 months+ |
| Impact | 2 weeks+ |
| Difficulty | Moderate–high |
| Technique range | Moderate |
Briefing — bring techniques into one cohesive system; avoid plateaus
Key dimensions: all five.
- Kolbs Experiential Cycle — “right vs wrong way to practise” (pillar technique)
- Skills Audit — learning self-diagnosis
- Common Traps — deathly spirals, bandwagon fallacy, misfitting techniques
- Techniques in School (incl. time-boxing); Must-do’s recap → Prestudy, Focus
Technique Training — inquiry-based learning; meaningful relationships & networks
Key dimensions: deep processing, self-regulation, self-management.
- Inquiry Based Learning (Traffic Light System) · Order Control
- Cave Theory → Survive and Thrive (analogous & in-context relationships) · Memory Handling
- How to Unlearn Old or Bad Habits Efficiently — unlearning
- Loss Aversion — the “good enough” trap
Ascent I — Aim (step 1 of the Bear Hunter System encoding)
Ascent II — Shoot (non-linear note-taking)
Ascent III — Skin (optimise chunk structure for retention/depth)
Base Camp — resume self-management; combine advanced encoding
Camp I — lower-order memorisation for when there’s no alternative
Camp II — the most advanced interleaved retrieval methods
Summit — personalise + perform under pressure; the multipass system
- Multipass System · Cramming
- Exam Execution (hub) → Breaching Questions · ReCOVer System · Silly Mistake Syndrome · Group Study
Support library
Not in the linear path — supplementary modules the corpus carries (Learning Support is the largest).
Learning Support — synthesized 2026-05-29 (36 clips consolidated into 6 pages): Measuring Learning (mastery levels, efficiency, rate limiters) · Marginal Gains in Practice (stacking, tracking, vs Kolb/30-Day) · Encoding and Retrieval (the trade-off, spacing, troubleshooting) · Non Linear Note Making (arrows-vs-lines, spiderwebbing, reverse causality, references) · Motivation (strategic fuel vs dependency) · Pacing Skill Development (2–3 processes, Swiss-cheese / missing details). Other clips mapped to existing pages (Higher Order Learning, Prestudy, Inquiry Based Learning, Skills Audit, How to Ask for Feedback, Interleaving Table, Silly Mistake Syndrome, Kolbs Experiential Cycle); only “Recommended apps” (an affiliate list) was left unsynthesized.
- Decision-making → Decision Making · Good Decisions · Changing Decisions · Choice Throttling · Decisional Delays · Positional Decisions and Expected Value
- Exam execution → How to diagnose and fix exam mistakes · How to prepare for ultra high volume exams
- Mindset / Neuroticism → Fixed vs Growth Mindset · Marginal Gains · Neuroticism
- Self-management & feedback → How to Ask for Feedback · Skills Audit · Reverse Goal Setting · Kolbs Experiential Cycle
- Self-regulation / wellbeing → Recovery · How to Maintain Sustainable Energy Under Pressure · How to shift your brain to be motivated (when you don’t feel like it)
- Mind maps → Mindmaps
- Syntopical / dense reading → Syntopical Reading Learning from Multiple Dense Resources
Coverage notes (cross-check vs raw/private/ICS, 207 source files)
- Strongest coverage: Ascent (Bear Hunter Aim/Shoot/Skin), Summit (Multipass), Camp II (interleaved retrieval), Catalyst (retrieval) — wiki notes map ~1:1.
- Gaps filled 2026-05-29: Camp I memorisation (Rote Learning and Memorisation, Flashcards, Method of Loci); Fundamentals 2 (Note-Taking, Revision, Study Scheduling); Summit (Cramming + the Exam Execution cluster: Breaching Questions, ReCOVer System, Silly Mistake Syndrome).
- Filled 2026-05-29 (round 2): Technique Training (Inquiry Based Learning, Order Control, Survive and Thrive, Cave Theory, Loss Aversion); Fundamentals 2 (Exam Technique, Live Learning Events); Briefing (Common Traps, Techniques in School).
- Filled 2026-05-29 (round 3): the Learning Support library — 36 clips consolidated into 6 pages (see Support library above). The only unsynthesized clip is “Recommended apps” (an affiliate list, not durable knowledge).
- Coverage: the full linear program path and the Learning Support library are now covered. Remaining corpus items are minor (a few duplicate-variant clips and Live Clinic transcripts).
- Resolved: the 30-Day Plan stage is the five dimension-split challenges (deep processing / mindset / retrieval / self-management / self-regulation) under 30-Day Challenges.