# GrowNet’s Golden Rule (in plain English)

**One sentence:**
 **When something truly new shows up, make room.**
 If it isn’t truly new, just improve what you already have.

## How it works (like a tidy closet)

1. **See an item:** GrowNet looks at a new example and checks its “closet.”
2. **Fits a drawer?** If it matches an existing drawer (pattern), it just tidies that drawer (**adapt**).
3. **Needs a new drawer?** If it doesn’t fit but there’s space, it adds a new drawer (**allocate a slot**).
4. **Closet is full?** If new, different items keep arriving and drawers are full, it adds a **new shelf** (a new “neuron”).
    If lots of shelves overflow, it adds a **new cabinet** (a new “layer”), and in bigger cases, a **new room** (“region”).
    There are strict limits and cool-downs so it never turns into clutter.

## Why this is better

- **Keeps old skills intact:** Doesn’t wreck what it already knows (less forgetting).
- **Learns faster, locally:** It grows only where the new need is.
- **Efficient:** Adds capacity **only when needed**, not everywhere.
- **Predictable:** Clear rules make behavior easy to test and trust.

## Quick example

GrowNet learned only **digits (0–9)**. One day it sees **letters (A–Z)**.
 Digits don’t quite explain letters → it **makes room** just for letters, without breaking digit skills.

## Micro-glossary

- **Novelty:** “This doesn’t fit any drawer I have.”
- **Adapt:** Improve an existing drawer.
- **Allocate (grow):** Add a new drawer/shelf/cabinet when the difference keeps showing up.
- **Anchor / Slot:** The “reference” and the “drawer” used to organize what it sees.

That’s it: **Adapt when you can; grow when you must.**