• Attention, memory, structure, and citizens all reduce the distance between intent and outcome.
• NDK, NMP, TENEX, and proactive-context each target a different part of that distance.
• The distance is not zero today; humans still spend time routing, checking, and re-explaining.
• Progress must be demonstrated with real systems, real data, and real devices.
• The practical goal is steady movement toward a smaller, measurable gap.