Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 1100 answers
You can examine your own mental models and evaluate whether they serve you.
Your schema about a thing is never the thing itself — useful but always incomplete.
Multiple schemas can apply to the same situation and the one that wins shapes your response.
Established schemas persist even when contradicted by evidence.
A schema that works in one context may fail entirely in another.
Teams that share mental models coordinate better than teams that do not.
Every category you create determines what you group together and what you separate.
There is no single correct way to categorize — categories serve purposes.
Classifying items by importance or urgency enables systematic decision-making.
Classifying items by importance or urgency enables systematic decision-making.
The best category systems adapt as you learn more about what you are organizing.
The best category systems adapt as you learn more about what you are organizing.
Knowing what enables what reveals where small actions create large effects.
Connecting abstract principles to concrete examples makes them usable.
Connections that exist today may not have existed yesterday or may not exist tomorrow.
Too detailed is as unhelpful as too abstract — match the level to your current need.
Going deep in one branch versus wide across many branches are different strategies with different costs — and the right choice depends on whether you need resolution or coverage.
Middle layers of hierarchy help you find things without getting lost in detail.
Simpler hierarchies with fewer levels are easier to navigate and maintain.
Items nested inside a container share the context of that container.
Create specific tests that would show you if your mental model is accurate.
If your schema is correct it should make accurate predictions about what will happen next.
Explaining your schema to someone else and hearing their objections is a form of validation.
Test the smallest piece of your schema first before relying on the whole structure.