Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 4568 answers
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.
When multiple contexts are active simultaneously identify which one is primary.
When multiple contexts are active simultaneously identify which one is primary.
Right now, list every context you are currently holding — not tasks, but contexts. Roles you are occupying (employee, parent, friend, decision-maker). Concerns running in the background (financial, relational, professional). Frames you are interpreting the world through (deadline pressure,.
Believing you can serve multiple contexts simultaneously without degradation. You will know this is happening when you feel productive — attending to many things at once — but the output in each context is shallow, reactive, and error-prone. The sensation of busyness is not the same as the reality.
When multiple contexts are active simultaneously identify which one is primary.
Information separated from its context becomes ambiguous or misleading.