Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 1490 answers
Who you are with when you process information influences what you conclude.
Who you are with when you process information influences what you conclude.
Who you are with when you process information influences what you conclude.
Who you are with when you process information influences what you conclude.
Identify one belief you hold strongly that most of your close peers also hold. Write it down. Now write the strongest possible argument against it — not a straw man, the actual steel-man case. Notice how much harder this is than it should be. The difficulty isn't intellectual. It's social. Your.
Believing you're immune to social influence because you're 'independent-minded.' Asch's data is clear: 75% of people conform at least once, and the remaining 25% aren't immune — they just have higher thresholds. The most dangerous form of social conformity is the kind you can't see because.
Who you are with when you process information influences what you conclude.
Understanding how you got here prevents you from making the same errors again.
Understanding how you got here prevents you from making the same errors again.
Understanding how you got here prevents you from making the same errors again.
Understanding how you got here prevents you from making the same errors again.
Pick one recurring problem — personal or professional — that you've encountered at least twice. Write the full history: when it first appeared, what you tried, what worked temporarily, what failed, what conditions preceded each recurrence. Be specific about dates, decisions, and contexts. Now.
Knowing the history intellectually without encoding it into your decision-making infrastructure. Reading post-mortems without changing processes. Saying 'we learned from that' while preserving the exact conditions that caused it. Historical context only prevents repetition when it is embedded in.
Understanding how you got here prevents you from making the same errors again.
You remember things better in the context where you learned them.
Always give your audience the context they need to interpret your message correctly.
Always give your audience the context they need to interpret your message correctly.
Always give your audience the context they need to interpret your message correctly.
Always give your audience the context they need to interpret your message correctly.
Pick a message you sent in the last week — an email, Slack message, or document. Reread it as if you know nothing about the project, the conversation history, or your intent. Identify every assumption the reader would need to already hold for the message to land correctly. Rewrite it with those.
Believing that because something is obvious to you, it must be obvious to your reader. This is the curse of knowledge operating in real time. You will catch yourself doing it most when you are busy, stressed, or communicating with people you know well — precisely the conditions where you are most.
Always give your audience the context they need to interpret your message correctly.
When multiple contexts are active simultaneously identify which one is primary.
When multiple contexts are active simultaneously identify which one is primary.