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>
> What is the best way to handle this?  I could have those methods set
> @instance_variables, but this seems a little hackish, and could
> introduce race conditions.
>

I'm not sure I'd agree that it is hackish to set @instance_variables (or
perhaps to use a setter instead) to capture learned info.  A naming
convention might help (maybe remove the "?' and add "_reason")

class Foo
  attr_accessor :valid_reason
  def valid?
  ...
  self.valid_reason = "age is too young"
  false
  end
end

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