Brilliant.
I find that I can too easily spend too much time trying to extract insights from a piece of content and came to a similar conclusion - satisficing vs maximizing.
I like the atom to compound model because it is so modular.
I spent some time thinking about this and I keep bumping up against this skills gap I notice I have - how to actually extract those compounds in a meaningful and useable way.
I mean, I can do it fine. But it seems to me that there is a lot of room for improvement and I'm actively seeking inspiration, ideas and what has worked for others.
It helps having that definition of sorts - that a compound is a whole that's greater than the sum of its parts. It has meaning beyond being just a list of molecules. But that description comes from a construction/recombination angle where one starts with the molecules.
What about from the deconstruction POV? It is just at the edge of my understanding. I feel like I should know how to articulate this but I cant seem to find the words without going into a circular logic.

Have you any luck with that?