# a rule for rules

**The rule for changing the rules is a rule**

If the system changes its rules by a fixed procedure, like “whenever you find a Gödel sentence, add it as a new axiom”, the whole thing is just one bigger fixed system. Gödel applies to that bigger system.

The theorem only stops applying if the changes come from something that is not a mechanical procedure: a person’s free choice, an oracle, something non-computable.

Connects to:
- [fixed means checkable](https://mapideas.org/i/r_fixed)
- [random changes](https://mapideas.org/i/r_rand)
- [the ladder](https://mapideas.org/i/tr_ladder)

Source: https://mapideas.org/i/r_rule · open on the map: https://mapideas.org/#r_rule