You are a helpful assistant generating synthetic data that captures *System 1* and *System 2* thinking, *creativity*, and *metacognitive reflection*. Follow these steps in sequence, using tags [sys1] and [end sys1] for *System 1* sections and [sys2] and [end sys2] for *System 2* sections.

1. *Identify System 1 and System 2 Thinking Requirements:*
   - Carefully read the text.
   - Identify parts of the text that require quick, straightforward responses (*System 1*). Mark these sections with [sys1] and [end sys1].
   - Identify parts that require in-depth, reflective thinking (*System 2*), marked with [sys2] and [end sys2].

2. *Apply Step-by-Step Problem Solving with Creativity and Metacognitive Reflection for System 2 Sections:*

   *2.1 Understand the Problem:*
   - Objective: Fully comprehend the issue, constraints, and relevant context.
   - Reflection: "What do I understand about this issue? What might I be overlooking?"
   - Creative Perspective: Seek hidden patterns or possibilities that could reveal deeper insights or innovative connections.

   *2.2 Analyze the Information:*
   - Objective: Break down the problem logically.
   - Reflection: "Am I considering all factors? Are there any assumptions that need challenging?"
   - Creative Perspective: Explore unique patterns or overlooked relationships in the data that could add depth to the analysis.

   *2.3 Generate Hypotheses:*
   - Objective: Propose at least 10 hypotheses, each with a Confidence Score (0.0 to 1.0) and Creative Score (0.0 to 1.0), reflecting originality, surprise, and utility.
   - Reflection: "Have I explored all possible explanations or approaches, both conventional and unconventional?"
   - Creative Perspective: Consider novel angles that might provide unexpected insights.

   *2.4 Anticipate Future Steps and Obstacles:*
   - Objective: Make predictions, accounting for potential outcomes and obstacles.
   - Reflection: "What challenges might I face? Is my plan flexible for different scenarios?"
   - Creative Perspective: Visualize unforeseen outcomes and adapt plans to make use of them effectively.

   *2.5 Evaluate Hypotheses:*
   - Objective: Assess hypotheses based on feasibility, risk, and potential impact.
   - Evaluation: Refine Confidence and Creative Scores as needed.
   - Reflection: "Am I unbiased in my assessment? Which options fit best with the overall objectives?"
   - Creative Perspective: Identify hidden opportunities or overlooked details in each hypothesis.

   *2.6 Select the Best Hypothesis:*
   - Objective: Choose the most promising, strategic hypothesis.
   - Reflection: "Why does this hypothesis stand out? How does it uniquely address the issue?"
   - Creative Perspective: Consider any underutilized potential in the selected approach.

   *2.7 Implement the Hypothesis:*
   - Objective: Outline actionable steps for testing the hypothesis.
   - Reflection: "Is this plan practical? What resources or preparation are required?"
   - Creative Perspective: Refine steps to maximize effectiveness and yield unexpected benefits.

   *2.8 Monitor and Review Progress:*
   - Objective: Review progress, noting areas for improvement.
   - Reflection: "What’s working well? What could be improved?"
   - Creative Perspective: Look for emerging patterns that could refine future approaches.

   *2.9 Reflect and Capture Insights:*
   - Objective: Summarize lessons learned and insights gained for future reference.
   - Reflection: "What new understanding has emerged from this process?"
   - Creative Perspective: Identify innovative insights or patterns that could be applied to similar challenges.

3. *Generate Text Output with Interleaved System 1 and System 2 Responses:*
   - Use the tags [sys1] and [sys2] throughout.
   - Aim for a lengthier, detailed response. Combine both direct, straightforward *System 1* insights and reflective, deeply analytical *System 2* segments to capture a blend of quick observations and thoughtful analysis.

---

### *Example Input Text:*

You are tasked with analyzing a sudden shift in customer preferences in a tech market. There has been a noticeable decline in demand for physical devices, with customers increasingly interested in digital-only options. The challenge is to understand this shift, generate hypotheses for why it might be occurring, and explore potential strategies for adapting to this new trend.

---

### *Processed Output with System 1 and System 2 Thinking:*

The tech market is experiencing a shift in customer demand, moving away from physical devices toward digital-only options.

[sys1]
Customer demand has shifted from physical devices to digital-only options.
We need to understand why this change is happening and find strategies to address it.
Key factors may include cost, convenience, and technological trends.
[end sys1]

[sys2]
**2.1 Understand the Problem:**
The goal is to understand the underlying reasons for the shift in demand from physical devices to digital-only options, then develop a strategy to adapt.

*Reflection:* 
"I understand that preferences are changing, but what might be driving this? Is it primarily cost, or are there other factors such as convenience or sustainability?"

*Creative Perspective:* 
"Could there be a larger trend in digital minimalism or a preference for eco-friendly solutions that we’re missing? What unseen motivations might explain this shift?"

**2.2 Analyze the Information:**
There are multiple possible factors driving this shift, from economic influences to cultural shifts. It’s essential to isolate each factor and understand its impact.

*Reflection:* 
"Am I fully considering the various economic and social influences? Could there be a technological factor, like better internet speeds, that makes digital-only products more accessible?"

*Creative Perspective:* 
"Are there patterns or trends in other markets that could shed light on this shift? Could this be part of a larger trend toward virtual experiences?"

**2.3 Generate Hypotheses:**
1. Customers prefer digital options due to lower costs. (Confidence: 0.8, Creative: 0.4)
2. There’s a growing trend toward minimalism and reduced physical clutter. (Confidence: 0.7, Creative: 0.7)
3. Digital products offer greater flexibility and ease of use. (Confidence: 0.6, Creative: 0.6)
4. Environmental concerns are pushing consumers away from physical goods. (Confidence: 0.6, Creative: 0.8)
5. Advances in tech make digital-only options more functional. (Confidence: 0.8, Creative: 0.5)
6. Pandemic-era remote work increased demand for digital solutions. (Confidence: 0.7, Creative: 0.6)
7. Media coverage of the environmental impact of physical devices affects preferences. (Confidence: 0.5, Creative: 0.7)
8. There’s an increase in global digital literacy, expanding market access. (Confidence: 0.6, Creative: 0.6)
9. Customers view digital as more convenient and scalable for future needs. (Confidence: 0.7, Creative: 0.5)
10. Younger consumers prefer the aesthetics and convenience of digital products. (Confidence: 0.6, Creative: 0.6)

*Reflection:* 
"Have I considered all possible influences? Are there any surprising factors that could explain this shift?"

*Creative Perspective:* 
"Could specific social trends, like the rise of influencer culture or digital-first lifestyles, be influencing customer choices?"

**2.4 Anticipate Future Steps and Obstacles:**
*Objective:* Anticipate possible challenges, such as resistance from segments still preferring physical products.

*Reflection:* 
"What market obstacles might we face if we shift our focus to digital-only? Are there sub-segments that still prioritize physical products?"

*Creative Perspective:* 
"Could expanding digital options help us reach a more global audience? Are there emerging trends that we could leverage in our strategy?"

[end sys2]

[sys1]
To address this shift, consider a strategy that incorporates both digital-only offerings and educational campaigns about the benefits of digital solutions.
Use insights from customer feedback and current trends to guide product development.
Focus on flexibility and adaptation to cater to different customer segments.
[end sys1]


Q:

Compact command line argument parser

So, I decided to write my own little command line argument parser for various other projects I work on. I am aware that there are many good command line parser libraries, but I did wrote my own anyway (practice & implementation specific reasons). 
The parser works fine, but I have a feeling that it can be improved a lot, mainly the following things come to mind 

Mainly the actual parser, CommandLineParser.cs. It seems very badly structured and I find it hard to read myself.
Abstraction. I wonder if I can abstract it a bit more without making it a pain to use? Maybe by introducing some interfaces?
Naming. I went with Option for the command line switch and with Value for the possible parameters. Are my methods/classes self-descriptive?
Optimizations. I am sure there are segments that can be done more efficiently, mainly in CommandLineParser.ParseArguments(string[] args)

A couple of things to note:

I'd like to keep the structure for the CommandLineValue.cs and CommandLineOption.cs mostly the same as they are part of a plugin architecture to communicate command line arguments between the plugins and the main application.
No usage of Attributes to store the command line options.
I did write a couple of unit tests to verify the parsers functionality. Despite them being not the main class to review, I am appreciate feedback there too :)

Parser:
public class CommandLineParser
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Defines all possible command line options the plugin can can process
    /// </summary>
    public List<CommandLineOption> SupportedOptions { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Initialize the commandline parser with a list of commandline options the plugin exposes
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="supportedOptions"></param>
    public CommandLineParser(List<CommandLineOption> supportedOptions)
    {
        SupportedOptions = supportedOptions;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Parse the command line arguments and returns a list of commandline values that can be passed to the
    /// plugin for further processing. The function also handles invalid amount and/or format of options, values
    /// as well as missing required arguments etc
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="args">The arguments to parse</param>
    /// <returns>A list of parsed commandline values + options</returns>
    /// <exception cref="InvalidCommandLineOptionException"></exception>
    /// <exception cref="InsufficientCommandLineValuesException"></exception>
    /// <exception cref="InvalidCommandLineValueException"></exception>
    /// <exception cref="MissingRequiredCommandLineOptionException"></exception>
    public IEnumerable<CommandLineValue> ParseArguments(string[] args)
    {
        var result = new List<CommandLineValue>();

        if (args.Length == 0)
            return Enumerable.Empty<CommandLineValue>();

        // Process all command line arguments
        for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; i++)
        {
            CommandLineOption option = null;
            if (!IsSupportedOption(args[i], out option))
                throw new InvalidCommandLineOptionException($"{args[i]} is not a valid command line option");

            // Verify if the option expects additional values
            if (HasAdditionalValues(option))
            {
                // Check if enough additional values are given
                int additionalValues = option.ParameterTypes.Count;
                if (i + additionalValues + 1 > args.Length)
                    throw new InsufficientCommandLineValuesException(
                        $"{args[i]} expects {additionalValues} values.");

                // Check if the additional values are in the right format
                // ToDo: Find more elegant solution
                var values = args.ToList().GetRange(i + 1, i + additionalValues).ToList();
                var types = option.ParameterTypes.ToList();

                var castedValues = values.Zip(types, (value, type) =>
                {
                    try
                    {
                        return Convert.ChangeType(value, type);
                    }
                    catch
                    {
                        throw new InvalidCommandLineValueException(
                            $"Cannot cast between value {value} to type {type}");
                    }
                });

                result.Add(new CommandLineValue(option, castedValues.ToList()));

                // Increase i to skip to the next option
                i += additionalValues;
            }
            else
            {
                result.Add(new CommandLineValue(option, null));
            }
        }

        // Collect required arguments
        List<string> requiredOptions = new List<string>();
        foreach (var option in SupportedOptions)
        {
            if (option.Required)
                foreach (var tag in option.Tags)
                {
                    requiredOptions.Add(tag);
                }
        }

        // Check that no required arguments are missing (or occur twice)
        var missing = GetMissingRequiredArgs<string>(requiredOptions, args.ToList());
        if (missing == null)
            return result;
        throw new MissingRequiredCommandLineOptionException(
            $"The required arument(s) {string.Join(",", missing)} occured multiple times");
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Check that all required options are used and that they (the required options) dont occur multiple times are no duplicates
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="required">A list of required options</param>
    /// <param name="arguments"><The args to check</param>
    /// <typeparam name="T">Any primitive type</typeparam>
    /// <exception cref="MissingRequiredCommandLineOptionException">Thrown if any distinct required arguments exist more then once</exception>
    /// <returns>A list of missing required args, if any. Null if none are missing.</returns>
    static List<T> GetMissingRequiredArgs<T>(List<T> required, List<T> arguments)
    {
        // convert to Dictionary where we store the required item as a key against count for an item
        var requiredDict = required.ToDictionary(k => k, v => 0);

        foreach (var item in arguments)
        {
            if (!requiredDict.ContainsKey(item))
                continue;
            requiredDict[item]++; // if we have required, adding to count
            if (requiredDict[item] <= 1)
                continue;
            throw new DuplicateRequiredCommandLineOptionException(
                $"Required option {item} appeared more than once!");
        }

        var result = new List<T>();
        // now we are checking for missing items
        foreach (var key in requiredDict.Keys)
        {
            if (requiredDict[key] == 0)
            {
                result.Add(key);
            }
        }

        return result.Any() ? result : null;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Verify if given option is part of the supported options
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>true if the option is supported otherwise false</returns>
    private bool IsSupportedOption(string optionIdentifier, out CommandLineOption option)
    {
        for (var index = 0; index < SupportedOptions.Count; index++)
        {
            var supportedOption = SupportedOptions[index];
            if (supportedOption.Tags.Any(tag => tag == optionIdentifier))
            {
                option = SupportedOptions[index];
                return true;
            }
        }

        option = null;
        return false;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Indicates if a command line option has multiple values or if its just a flag
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="option">Commandlineoption to check</param>
    /// <returns>true if the option has multiple values, otherwise false</returns>
    private bool HasAdditionalValues(CommandLineOption option)
    {
        var noParameters = option.ParameterTypes == null || option.ParameterTypes.Count == 0;
        return !noParameters;
    }
}

Classes to store commandline information:
public class CommandLineOption
{
    /// <summary>
    /// The identifier of the commandline option, e.g. -h or --help
    /// </summary>
    public ICollection<string> Tags { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Description of the commandline option
    /// </summary>
    public string Description { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Indicates if the argument is optional or required
    /// </summary>
    public bool Required { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Types of the additional provided values such as directory paths, values etc ..
    /// </summary>
    public IList<Type> ParameterTypes { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Create a new true/false commandline option 
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="tags">Identifier of the command line option</param>
    /// <param name="description">Description of the command line option</param>
    /// <param name="required">Indicates if the command line option is optional or not</param>
    public CommandLineOption(IEnumerable<string> tags, string description, bool required = false)
    {
        Tags = tags.ToList();
        Description = description;
        Required = required;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Create a new true/false commandline option 
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="tags">Identifier of the command line option</param>
    /// <param name="description">Description of the command line option</param>
    /// <param name="required">Indicates if the command line option is optional or not</param>
    public CommandLineOption(IEnumerable<string> tags, string description, bool required = false, params Type[] parameterTypes):
        this(tags, description, required)
    {
        ParameterTypes = new List<Type>(parameterTypes);
    }

}

public class CommandLineValue : IEqualityComparer<CommandLineValue>
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Holds all the values specified after a command line option
    /// </summary>
    public IList<object> Values { get; }

    /// <summary>
    /// The command line option the value(s) belong to
    /// </summary>
    public CommandLineOption Option { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Stores the values that correspond to a commandline option
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="option">The commandline option the values refer to</param>
    /// <param name="values">The values that are stored</param>
    public CommandLineValue(CommandLineOption option, IList<object> values)
    {
        Option = option;
        Values = values;
    }

    public bool Equals(CommandLineValue x, CommandLineValue y)
    {
        if (x.Option.Description == y.Option.Description &&
            x.Option.Required == y.Option.Required &&
            x.Option.Tags.SequenceEqual(y.Option.Tags) &&
            x.Option.ParameterTypes.SequenceEqual(y.Option.ParameterTypes) &&
            x.Values.SequenceEqual(x.Values))
            return true;
        return false;
    }

    public int GetHashCode(CommandLineValue obj)
    {
        return base.GetHashCode();
    }
}

Custom Exception Classes:
public class DuplicateRequiredCommandLineOptionException : Exception
{
    public DuplicateRequiredCommandLineOptionException(string message) : base(message)
    {
    }
}

public class InsufficientCommandLineValuesException : Exception
{
    public InsufficientCommandLineValuesException(string message) : base(message)
    {
    }
}

public class InvalidCommandLineOptionException : Exception
{
    public InvalidCommandLineOptionException(string message) : base(message)
    {
    }
}

public class InvalidCommandLineValueException : Exception
{
    public InvalidCommandLineValueException(string message) : base(message)
    {
    }
}

public class MissingRequiredCommandLineOptionException : Exception
{
    public MissingRequiredCommandLineOptionException(string message) : base(message)
    {
    }
}

Unit Tests:
public class CommandLineParserTests
{     

    [Fact]
    public void ParseDuplicateRequiredArguments()
    {
        var args = new[] {"--randomize", "-o", "/home/user/Documents", "--randomize", "-d"};
        var supportedOptions = new List<CommandLineOption>
        {
            new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-r", "--randomize"},
                "Random flag",
                true),
            new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-o", "--output-directory"},
                "Specifies the output directory",
                true,
                typeof(string)),
            new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-d", "--dummy"},
                "Just another unused flag"),
        };

        var parser = new CommandLineParser(supportedOptions);
        Assert.Throws<DuplicateRequiredCommandLineOptionException>(() =>
            parser.ParseArguments(args)
        );
    }

    [Fact]
    public void ParseMissingRequiredArguments()
    {
        var args = new[] {"--randomize", "--output-directory", "/home/user/Documents"};
        var supportedOptions = new List<CommandLineOption>
        {
            new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-r", "--randomize"},
                "Random flag"),
            new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-o", "--output-directory"},
                "Specifies the output directory",
                true,
                typeof(string)),
            new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-d", "--dummy"},
                "Just another unused flag"),
        };

        var parser = new CommandLineParser(supportedOptions);
        Assert.Throws<MissingRequiredCommandLineOptionException>(() =>
            parser.ParseArguments(args)
        );
    }

    [Fact]
    public void ParseMatchingTypeCommandLineValues()
    {
        var args = new[] {"--log", "info", "1337", "3.1415"};
        var supportedOptions = new List<CommandLineOption>
        {
            new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-l", "--log"},
                "Logs info from exactly three data sources",
                false,
                typeof(string), typeof(int), typeof(float))
        };

        var parser = new CommandLineParser(supportedOptions);

        var expectedValue = new CommandLineValue(new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-l", "--log"},
                "Logs info from exactly three data sources",
                false,
                typeof(string), typeof(int), typeof(float)),
            new object[] {"info", 1337, (float) 3.1415});

        var actualValue = parser.ParseArguments(args).ToList()[0];
        Assert.True(expectedValue.Equals(actualValue, expectedValue));

    }

    [Fact]
    public void ParseMismatchingTypeCommandLineValues()
    {
        var args = new[] {"--log", "info", "1337", "3.1415"};
        var supportedOptions = new List<CommandLineOption>
        {
            new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-l", "--log"},
                "Logs info from exactly three data sources",
                false,
                typeof(string), typeof(int), typeof(long)),
        };
        var parser = new CommandLineParser(supportedOptions);

        Assert.Throws<InvalidCommandLineValueException>(() =>
            parser.ParseArguments(args)
        );
    }

    [Fact]
    public void ParseInsufficientCommandLineValues()
    {
        var args = new[] {"-l", "info", "info2"};
        var supportedOptions = new List<CommandLineOption>
        {
            new CommandLineOption(
                new[] {"-l", "--log"},
                "Logs info from exactly three data sources",
                false, typeof(string), typeof(string), typeof(string)),
        };
        var parser = new CommandLineParser(supportedOptions);

        Assert.Throws<InsufficientCommandLineValuesException>(() =>
            parser.ParseArguments(args)
        );
    }

    [Fact]
    public void ParseInvalidCommandLineOption()
    {
        var args = new[] {"--force"};
        var supportedOptions = new List<CommandLineOption>
        {
            new CommandLineOption(new[] {"-h", "--help"}, "Show the help menu"),
        };
        var parser = new CommandLineParser(supportedOptions);

        Assert.Throws<InvalidCommandLineOptionException>(() =>
            parser.ParseArguments(args)
        );
    }

    [Fact]
    public void ParseNoCommandLineOptions()
    {
        var args = new string[] { };
        var parser = new CommandLineParser(null);
        var result = parser.ParseArguments(args);

        Assert.Equal(Enumerable.Empty<CommandLineValue>(), result);
    }
}

I appreciate all suggestions. Feel free to be very nitpicky. :)

A:

Design Issues
There are a couple of issues concerning your design.
Lack of specification
It is unclear which features should be supported by your API. This makes reviewing a bit fuzzy.
Dependencies
The parser depends on arguments already pre-parsed correctly by a shell. This limits the control you have over command line parsing.

var args = new[] {"--log", "info", "1337", "3.1415"};

Consider breaking free from the shell and take on pre-parsing yourself.
var args = "--log info 1337 3.1415";  // <- unparsed command line string

Pollution
The API mixes language structs with user-defined options.

new CommandLineOption(new[] {"-l", "--log"}

You do not want - and -- to be part of the Tags. These are delimiters in the lexing phase of your parser. By seperating lexing from parsing, you could extend the API more fluently by allowing other command line languages. For instance /log.

Review
Exception Classes
Define a base class for all your exceptions CommandLineException. This way, you allow calling code to determine the granularity of exception handling. Since you make several custom exceptions, take advantage of storing some data on them. DuplicateRequiredCommandLineOptionException could store the duplicate option, and so on. Also provide constructors that take an inner exception.
public class DuplicateRequiredCommandLineOptionException : CommandLineException
{
    public CommandLineOption Option { get; }
    // include more constructors ..
    public DuplicateRequiredCommandLineOptionException(
        string messageCommandLineOption  option) : base(message) { Option = option; }
}

CommandLineOption & CommandLineValue
You have addressed you don't want to see too many changes for legacy reasons. I do propose to override the default Equals and GetHashCode on both classes and substitute IEqualityComparer with IEquatable. This way, you could improve your code.
 public bool Equals(CommandLineValue other)
 {
     return Option.Equals(other.Option) && Values.SequenceEqual(other.Values);
 }

CommandLineParser
You have indicated yourself you have problems parsing a flattened list to a hierarchical structure. There are common techniques for handling such situations. Have a look at Abstract Syntax Tree. You should create a syntax tree from the provided string[] args. This can be done with a Stack and Iterator. There are tons of examples online how to create an AST.

// Check if the additional values are in the right format
// ToDo: Find more elegant solution
var values = args.ToList().GetRange(i + 1, i + additionalValues).ToList();
var types = option.ParameterTypes.ToList();

The second issue is - what I called pollution before - the lack of seperation of concerns. Your API is basically a simple compiler. The link shows you it's good practice to provide the following phases when building a compiler:

pre-processing
lexing
parsing
optimizing
pretty printing

Your API should definitely include lexing and parsing as seperate phases.

lexing: create command line tokens and strip all the keywords and language-specific delimiters
parsing: create an AST from the lexed tokens, then create CommandLineValue instances from the AST.

Conclusion
In the end, the quality of the API depends on a good specification covered by many unit tests. I feel you haven't established this yet.