Learn more about problemsolving with this collection
How to make rational decisions
The role of biases in decision-making
The impact of social norms on decision-making
Reductio ad absurdum
It's a mode of argumentation or a form of argument in which a proposition is disproven by following its implications logically to an absurd conclusion.
Take an assertion and see if you can inquire about any contradictions out of it. If you can, that proposition has to be discarded.
91
305 reads
MORE IDEAS ON THIS
A successful critical commentary
- Re-express your target’s position so clearly and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”
- List any points of agreement.
- Mention anything that you have learned from your target.
- Only then are you permitted to say so much...
111
297 reads
The “Surely” Operator
Often the world “surely” is as good as a blinking light in locating a weak point in the argument.
Because it marks the very edge of what the author is actually sure about and hopes readers will also be sure about
77
238 reads
Jootsing
It stands for “jumping out of the system.”It can be applied to science, philosophy, and arts.
Being creative is not about searching for something new, but about making the novelty jump out of some system, a system that has become somewhat established, for good reasons.
87
198 reads
166
596 reads
Making mistakes
Mistakes are opportunities for learning and for creating something truly new.
And the trick for making good mistakes is not trying to hide them. Be honest with yourself and really know your own mistakes, so that you learn from them and that you'll never repeat them.
119
348 reads
Occam’s Razor
The main idea: Don't fabricate a complicated theory when you have a simpler one that handles a phenomenon just as well.
103
343 reads
Occam’s Broom
It describes the process in which inconvenient facts are whisked under the rug by intellectually dishonest champions of one theory or another.
90
256 reads
CURATED FROM
CURATED BY
Spending a large amount of time with someone literally causes you to pick up their habits. Choose your friends wisely.
Related collections
More like this
The "counterexample method"
While the premises may be true in an argument, the conclusion may or may not be correct, making the argument invalid. Example of an incorrect argument: Some New Yorkers are rude, some of them are artists, therefore some artists are rude.
A counterexample method is...
How to respond to false premises
When you respond to the use of false premises, you should generally call them out as false, explain why they're false, and how them being false invalidates the argument.
- False premises can be implicit rather than explicit.
- It can also be helpful to ask the p...
Structure of a well-formed argument
It does not use reasons that contradict each other, contradict the conclusion or explicitly or implicitly assumes the truth of the conclusion. Checklist:
- Does the communication include at least one reason to support the conclusion as being true? If not, it is not an...
Read & Learn
20x Faster
without
deepstash
with
deepstash
with
deepstash
Access to 200,000+ ideas
—
Access to the mobile app
—
Unlimited idea saving & library
—
—
Unlimited history
—
—
Unlimited listening to ideas
—
—
Downloading & offline access
—
—
Personalized recommendations
—
—
Supercharge your mind with one idea per day
Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.
I agree to receive email updates