Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 567 answers
Select three schemas you currently hold — about yourself, your work, or your field. For each one, write down the specific observation that would prove it wrong. If you cannot name a concrete falsifier, the schema is unfalsifiable in its current form. Rewrite it as a falsifiable claim: state it.
Pick one belief you hold about how something works — your learning process, your team's behavior, your market, your habits. Write it as a falsifiable prediction: 'If [schema] is true, then [observable outcome] should happen when [specific condition].' Design the smallest experiment you could run.
Select one schema you currently hold about a person, a system, or a recurring situation. Write down three specific, observable predictions that this schema implies. Be concrete: what will happen, when, under what conditions. Then observe. Over the next week, track which predictions are confirmed,.
Pick a belief you hold with high confidence — about your career, your relationships, or how the world works. Now generate three extreme scenarios where it would fail: the smallest possible case, the largest possible case, and the most adversarial case. For 'preparation beats talent,' try: a.
Choose one schema you currently rely on — a belief about how something works in your domain. Write it down in two or three sentences, as clearly as you can. Then explain it to someone: a colleague, a friend, a partner. Don't ask them if they agree. Ask them to tell you where it breaks. Write down.
Identify one schema you currently hold about how something works — in your career, a relationship, your health, or a creative practice. State it as a testable prediction: 'If I do X, then Y will happen within Z timeframe.' Commit to actually doing X within the next 48 hours. Before you act, write.
Choose a schema you currently rely on — a belief about how something works, a mental model for a recurring situation, or a rule you follow without questioning. Write it down as a single falsifiable claim. Now identify the smallest, most contained scenario where that claim should hold true. Test it.
Pick one belief you currently hold with high confidence — about your career, your team, a market trend, or a personal relationship. Write it as a single declarative statement. Now spend 10 minutes writing the strongest possible case against it. Do not write a weak objection you can easily dismiss..
List five schemas (beliefs, mental models, operating assumptions) you currently rely on. For each one, estimate two things: (1) how much damage you'd suffer if this schema is wrong, and (2) how much time and energy it would take to validate it properly. Now rank them by the ratio of potential.
Identify one schema you hold that cannot be tested through a single direct observation — something about your motivation, your relationships, your learning style, or your decision-making tendencies. Write the schema as a clear statement. Then generate five independent indicators that would be.
Select one schema you hold with high confidence — a mental model about how something works in your career, relationships, or thinking process. Write it down in two to three sentences. Then share it with someone you trust intellectually and ask them three questions: (1) What assumption does this.
Pick a schema you tested recently — a belief you put against reality in any form (a prediction, a conversation, an experiment). Write a validation record with five fields: (1) the schema as you held it before testing, (2) what you did to test it, (3) what you expected to happen, (4) what actually.
Select a schema you consider well-validated — something you have tested and believe to be true. Write it down as a single declarative statement. Then systematically probe its boundary conditions by answering six questions: (1) In what specific contexts have I actually tested this? (2) What.
Pick one belief you hold with high confidence — something you'd rate at 90% or above. Write it down as a testable claim. Now list the actual evidence you have for it: not impressions, not 'everyone knows this,' but specific observations, experiences, or data points. Count them. Then list any.
Identify a schema you hold with high confidence — a belief about yourself, your industry, your relationships, or your capabilities. Write it down as a clear proposition. Now design three specific observations or experiments that could falsify it. Not tests that would confirm it — tests that would.
Pick one schema you rely on daily — a belief about how your team communicates best, how you learn most effectively, or what makes a project succeed. Write down when you last deliberately tested it against fresh evidence. If the answer is 'I can't remember,' schedule a 15-minute review this week:.
Perform a Phase 15 epistemic honesty audit across your most consequential schemas. Select three beliefs that significantly influence your decisions — about your career, your relationships, your capabilities, or your understanding of some domain you care about. For each belief, answer these.
Identify one belief you have held for more than a year that you have never deliberately tested or updated. Write down: (1) the belief itself, (2) the evidence that originally formed it, (3) any evidence you have encountered since that contradicts it, and (4) how you responded to that contradictory.
Start a trigger log today. Choose a schema you have recently updated — or one you suspect is currently shifting. Write a dated entry with four fields: (1) The schema before the update (what you previously believed), (2) The trigger (the specific evidence, experience, or observation that initiated.
Pick one belief you hold strongly right now — about leadership, learning, relationships, or your craft. Write it down as v1.0 with today's date. Then recall what you believed about the same topic two years ago. Write that as v0.x. Note what changed and why. You now have two explicit versions of.
Identify one belief, process, or mental model you currently operate under that you have patched more than three times. Write down its original purpose, the patches you have applied, and the problems that persist despite those patches. Then write a single sentence: 'This schema is deprecated as of.
Pick one domain where you make regular decisions: your career, your health, a technical system you manage. Write down the mental model you currently operate from. Now mark every element that hasn't been verified in the last six months. Count the unverified elements. That count is a rough measure.
Identify one belief you hold that you suspect might need updating. Write it down. Now write the strongest counter-evidence you can think of. Notice what happens in your body as you write the counter-evidence — tightness, heat, agitation, the urge to stop writing. Record those sensations alongside.
Pick your most consequential active schema — a decision framework, a hiring rubric, a mental model you use weekly. Write down three specific, observable conditions that should trigger you to review it. For each trigger, define the threshold (how much deviation), the evidence source (where you'd.