Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 1498 answers
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.
When evaluating past decisions reconstruct the context that existed at the time.
When evaluating past decisions reconstruct the context that existed at the time.
When evaluating past decisions reconstruct the context that existed at the time.
When evaluating past decisions reconstruct the context that existed at the time.
When evaluating past decisions reconstruct the context that existed at the time.
Pick a decision you made in the past six months that didn't turn out as planned. Before evaluating it, write down everything you can remember about the conditions at the time: what you knew, what you didn't know, what pressures you faced, what alternatives you considered, and what evidence.
Evaluating past decisions using information you only acquired after the outcome. You'll know you're in this failure mode when your judgment of a decision changes based on what happened next rather than what was knowable at the time. The phrase 'I should have known' is almost always a signal that.
When evaluating past decisions reconstruct the context that existed at the time.
Rather than relying on willpower create contexts that make desired behavior natural.
Rather than relying on willpower create contexts that make desired behavior natural.
Rather than relying on willpower create contexts that make desired behavior natural.
Rather than relying on willpower create contexts that make desired behavior natural.