Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 1675 answers
Every deliberate agent you create replaces an unconscious default.
Every deliberate agent you create replaces an unconscious default.
Every deliberate agent you create replaces an unconscious default.
Identify one recurring behavior you'd like to change. Write down its trigger, condition, and action — that's your default agent. Now design a replacement agent that uses the same trigger and condition but specifies a different action. Run the replacement for one week. Track whether the new action.
Trying to add a designed agent without identifying what it replaces. You tell yourself 'I'll start meditating in the morning' without acknowledging that morning already has an occupant — scrolling news, making coffee on autopilot, lying in bed replaying yesterday. The new behavior has nowhere to.
Every deliberate agent you create replaces an unconscious default.
Every agent has a trigger that activates it, a condition that validates it, and an action it takes.
Every agent has a trigger that activates it, a condition that validates it, and an action it takes.
When an agent handles a recurring decision you preserve energy for novel decisions.
When an agent handles a recurring decision you preserve energy for novel decisions.
When an agent handles a recurring decision you preserve energy for novel decisions.
When an agent handles a recurring decision you preserve energy for novel decisions.
When an agent handles a recurring decision you preserve energy for novel decisions.
Audit your last workday. List every recurring decision you made — what to eat, what to wear, which task to start with, how to respond to routine messages, when to take breaks. Count them. Now select the three most frequent and design an agent for each using the trigger-condition-action structure.
Automating decisions that should not be automated. Not every recurring decision is a good candidate for an agent. If the decision involves genuine novelty each time — a nuanced interpersonal judgment, a creative choice, a situation where context shifts meaningfully between instances — then forcing.
When an agent handles a recurring decision you preserve energy for novel decisions.
Vague agents do not fire reliably — specificity is required.
Vague agents do not fire reliably — specificity is required.
Vague agents do not fire reliably — specificity is required.
Vague agents do not fire reliably — specificity is required.
Vague agents do not fire reliably — specificity is required.
Vague agents do not fire reliably — specificity is required.
Vague agents do not fire reliably — specificity is required.
Vague agents do not fire reliably — specificity is required.