Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 1490 answers
Facts are observable events — stories are the narratives you construct around them.
Pick one situation from the past 24 hours that bothered you. Write two columns on a page. Left column: 'What a camera would record' — only observable, verifiable data (words said, actions taken, timestamps, measurable outcomes). Right column: 'The story I told about it' — every interpretation,.
Disguising stories as facts by using factual-sounding language. 'He was being passive-aggressive' feels like an observation but it's an interpretation. 'She doesn't care about quality' sounds like a conclusion drawn from evidence but it's a story about someone's internal state. The subtlest.
Facts are observable events — stories are the narratives you construct around them.
Seeking other viewpoints shows you what your single perspective cannot.
Seeking other viewpoints shows you what your single perspective cannot.
Pick a decision you've recently made or a design you've recently shipped. Write down your perspective in two sentences. Then ask three people with different roles, experiences, or stakes to describe what they see. Write each perspective on a separate card. Compare them side by side and mark.
Collecting perspectives performatively — asking for input you've already decided to ignore. If you seek other viewpoints only to confirm what you already believe, you're running confirmation bias with extra steps. The test: did any perspective you collected actually change something about your.
Seeking other viewpoints shows you what your single perspective cannot.
Strong feelings about an observation usually mean it touches something important.
Strong feelings about an observation usually mean it touches something important.
Strong feelings about an observation usually mean it touches something important.
Taking more time to look reveals details that quick glances miss.
Taking more time to look reveals details that quick glances miss.
Taking more time to look reveals details that quick glances miss.
Taking more time to look reveals details that quick glances miss.
Taking more time to look reveals details that quick glances miss.
Choose one thing you interact with daily — a dashboard you check, a codebase you maintain, a meeting you attend. Tomorrow, spend five minutes observing it in silence before forming any opinion or taking any action. Set a timer. No notes, no conclusions, just looking. Afterward, write down three.
Confusing slow observation with passive observation. You spend twenty minutes staring at something but your mind is elsewhere — planning dinner, rehearsing a conversation, checking the clock. Slow looking requires active, engaged attention directed at the object of observation, not merely the.
Taking more time to look reveals details that quick glances miss.
Write down what you observed before writing what you think it means.
Write down what you observed before writing what you think it means.
Write down what you observed before writing what you think it means.
Write down what you observed before writing what you think it means.