Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 9738 answers
Knowing a schema is wrong but not updating it creates a growing liability.
When you update a schema you must also update everything built on top of it.
When you update a schema you must also update everything built on top of it.
Sometimes you need the new schema to handle cases the old schema covered.
Sometimes you need the new schema to handle cases the old schema covered.
Sometimes you need the new schema to handle cases the old schema covered.
Changing a deeply held mental model is uncomfortable — expect and accept this.
Changing a deeply held mental model is uncomfortable — expect and accept this.
Changing a deeply held mental model is uncomfortable — expect and accept this.
Changing a deeply held mental model is uncomfortable — expect and accept this.
Identify one belief you hold that you suspect might need updating. Write it down. Now write the strongest counter-evidence you can think of. Notice what happens in your body as you write the counter-evidence — tightness, heat, agitation, the urge to stop writing. Record those sensations alongside.
Interpreting emotional discomfort as proof that the new evidence is wrong. This is the most common failure: you feel bad when confronting contradictory evidence, and your brain interprets the bad feeling as a signal that the evidence itself is flawed. You end up using your emotional reaction as.
Changing a deeply held mental model is uncomfortable — expect and accept this.
Define specific signals that should prompt you to re-evaluate a schema.
Define specific signals that should prompt you to re-evaluate a schema.
Define specific signals that should prompt you to re-evaluate a schema.
Define specific signals that should prompt you to re-evaluate a schema.
Pick your most consequential active schema — a decision framework, a hiring rubric, a mental model you use weekly. Write down three specific, observable conditions that should trigger you to review it. For each trigger, define the threshold (how much deviation), the evidence source (where you'd.
Defining triggers that are too vague to act on. 'Review when things feel off' is not a trigger — it's a wish. The whole point of trigger conditions is that they fire whether or not you feel like reviewing. If your trigger requires you to already suspect a problem, it's not a trigger. It's a.
Define specific signals that should prompt you to re-evaluate a schema.
When reality repeatedly contradicts your schema the schema needs updating.
When reality repeatedly contradicts your schema the schema needs updating.
When reality repeatedly contradicts your schema the schema needs updating.
Open your journal, task manager, or notes from the past two weeks. Look for three instances where reality surprised you — a prediction that missed, a conversation that went sideways, a decision that produced unexpected results. Write each on its own line. Now ask: do these point to the same.