Heuristics

Notes

Heuristics are a type of simple rules for decision making that enable us to make quick decisions with our System 1 brain without a lot of effort. Most often these rules exist unconsciously within us, and not specifically selected. Nowadays, heuristics results often in biases and stereotypes.

We are not always aware of the "rules" that guides our behavior, so the heuristics are expressed as instincts, as "gut feelings" that drives us towards a behavior or thought. It is when our instincts are honed to monitored that we can transform those to Intuition

Examples of Heuristics

1. The Feynman Razor - Complexity and jargon are used to mask a lack of deep understanding. If you can’t explain it to a 5-year-old, you don’t really understand it. If someone uses a lot of complexity and jargon to explain something, they probably don’t understand it. Feynman Technique
2. The Luck Razor - When choosing between two paths, choose the path that has a larger luck surface area. Much of what we call Luck is actually the macro result of 1,000s of micro actions. Your daily habits put you in a position where “luck” is more likely to strike. It’s hard to get lucky watching TV at home—it’s easy to get lucky when you’re engaging and learning, physically or digitally. Spend more time on things that increase your luck surface area.
3. The Arena Razor - When faced with two paths, choose the path that puts you in the arena. It's easy to throw rocks from the sidelines. It's scary and lonely in the arena—but it's where growth happens. Once you're in the arena, never take advice from people on the sidelines.
4. The Optimist Razor - When choosing who to spend time with, prioritize spending more time with optimists. Pessimists see closed doors. Optimists see open doors—and probably kick down the closed doors along the way. Optimism
5. "Look the part" Razor - If forced to choose between two options of seemingly equal merit, choose the one that doesn’t look the part. The one who doesn’t look the part has had to overcome much more to achieve its status than the one who fit in perfectly.
6. The Gratitude Razor - When in doubt, choose to show MORE gratitude to the people who have mentored or supported you. Say thank you more. Tell someone you appreciate them. Not just on special occasions—every single day. Lean into gratitude daily and your life will improve. Gratitude
7. The Invested vs. Spent Test - Time is either invested or spent. When choosing what to do, prioritize investing time, not spending it. For example actions such as reading, workout, mindfulness, relationship building.
8. The Rooms Razor - If you have a choice between entering two rooms, choose the room where you're more likely to be the dumbest one in the room. Once you're in the room, talk less and listen more. Bad for your ego—great for your growth.
9. The New Project Razor - When deciding whether to take on a new project, follow a simple rule - 1. Is this a "hell yes!" opportunity? If not, say no. If yes, proceed to Step 2. 2. Imagine that this is going to take 2x as long and be 1/2 as profitable as you expect. Do you still want to do it? If no, say no. If yes, take on the project. Using this approach will force you to say no much more often—you'll only say yes to projects you are extremely excited about, which are ultimately those that drive asymmetric rewards in your life.
10. The Uphill Decision Razor - When faced with two options, choose the one that’s more difficult in the short-term. short-term pain typically creates compounding long-term gain. Challenge
11. Occam's Razor - When you're weighing alternative explanations for something, the one with the fewest necessary assumptions should be chosen. Put simply, the simplest explanation is often the best one. Simplicity
12. Listen Mode - If you encounter someone with opinions or perspectives very different from your own, listen twice as much as you speak. always default to Listen Mode. You'll learn way more that way. Active Listening
13. The Lion Razor - If your goal is to do inspired, creative work, you have to work like a lion: Sprint when inspired. Rest. Repeat.
14. The Smart Friends Razor - If your smartest friends are all interested in something, it’s worth paying attention to.
15. The Young & Old Test - Make decisions that your 80-year old self and 10-year-old self would be proud of. Your 80-year-old self cares about the long-term compounding of the decisions of today. Your 10-year-old self reminds you to stay foolish and have some fun along the way. When you make decisions with both of them in mind, you have a recipe for a productive, joy-filled life.
16. Hanlon's Razor - Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. In assessing someone's actions, we shouldn't assume negative intent if there's a viable alternative explanation—different beliefs, lack of intelligence, incompetence, or ignorance. Hanlon's Razor
17. Hitchens’ Razor - Anything asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. If something cannot be settled by reasonable experiment or observation, it's not worth debating.
18. The Opinion Razor - Opinions are earned, not owed. If you can't state the opposition's argument clearly, you haven't earned an opinion.
19. The Writing Knife Block - If you're struggling to understand something, try writing it out. When you write, you expose the gaps that exist in your logic and thinking. Study to fill the gaps.
20. The Braggers Razor - Truly successful people rarely feel the need to brag about their success. Image vs core
21. The Stress-Reward Test - Too many people take on stress that has no upside. If something is going to be stressful, consider whether the reward is sufficiently outsized to justify the stress. If it isn't, don't take it on.

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Overview

🔼Topic:: Decision Making (MOC) ↩️Origin:: The Curiosity Chronicle by Sahil Bloom 🔗Link::