Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 1431 answers
Everything that follows builds on your ability to create inspect and improve schemas.
Every category you create determines what you group together and what you separate.
Every category you create determines what you group together and what you separate.
Every category you create determines what you group together and what you separate.
Every category you create determines what you group together and what you separate.
Pick one domain of your life you actively manage — your task list, your bookshelf, your notes, your contacts. Write down the categories you currently use. Then invent a completely different classification system for the same items — organize by urgency instead of project, by emotional weight.
Treating your current categories as 'the way things are' rather than a system you chose. You'll know you've fallen into this when someone suggests a different way of grouping and your first reaction is 'that's wrong' rather than 'that's different — what would it make visible?' The failure is.
Every category you create determines what you group together and what you separate.
There is no single correct way to categorize — categories serve purposes.
There is no single correct way to categorize — categories serve purposes.
There is no single correct way to categorize — categories serve purposes.
Pick a category you use frequently — in your work, your note system, your daily language. It might be 'urgent,' 'technical debt,' 'A-player,' or 'healthy food.' Write down three things: (1) Who created this category? (2) What purpose does it serve? (3) What does it make invisible? If you struggle.
Treating your own categories as objective features of reality. You will know this is happening when someone proposes an alternative categorization and your first reaction is that they are wrong rather than that they are serving a different purpose. The emotional signature is irritation at.
There is no single correct way to categorize — categories serve purposes.
When you name and define your categories you can evaluate and improve them.
When you name and define your categories you can evaluate and improve them.
When you name and define your categories you can evaluate and improve them.
When you name and define your categories you can evaluate and improve them.
Pick one domain where you currently sort things without written criteria — your email folders, your project labels, your bookmarks, your reading list. Write down the actual categories you use. Then, for each category, write a one-sentence definition that would let someone else sort items the same.
Creating explicit categories and then never revisiting them. The point of making categories explicit is not to freeze them — it's to make them visible so they can be evaluated and improved. If you define your categories once and treat them as permanent, you've just traded one kind of rigidity.
When you name and define your categories you can evaluate and improve them.
Dividing things into only two groups forces a false simplicity.
Dividing things into only two groups forces a false simplicity.
Dividing things into only two groups forces a false simplicity.