Rationality and Cognitive Science (with Anna Riedl)

1. Cultivate Wisdom for Rationality

View wisdom as the process of becoming more rational, focusing on self-reflection and insight to transform intractable problems into simple, actionable solutions.

2. Gain Insight for Solutions

When faced with a complex problem, seek deep insight into its underlying structure rather than just trying different solutions. This conceptual change can make intractable problems tractable and lead to powerful, straightforward answers.

3. Challenge Invisible Constraints

Recognize and challenge the implicit assumptions or “invisible walls” that unconsciously limit your perceived actions. By realizing these constraints are not always real, you can expand your range of possible solutions and behaviors.

4. Focus on Relevance

Actively engage in “relevance realization,” an ongoing process of learning what information and actions truly matter for your goals. This helps you avoid being overwhelmed by information and focus on the most powerful actions.

5. Cultivate Self-Understanding

To improve epistemic rationality, cultivate self-understanding by reflecting on past mistakes and misperceptions. This process helps you recognize how you distort reality and see through your own illusions.

6. Assess Rationality by Outcomes

Judge your rationality by whether your actions lead to consequences that are better for you, according to your own values, given the information and time available at the moment of decision.

7. Reconsider Sunk Costs

Before labeling a decision as a sunk cost fallacy, consider that past investments and environmental uncertainty might make continuing a project a useful strategy, as life radically depends on prior actions.

8. Factor Computational Costs

When making decisions, consider the computational cost and opportunity cost of thinking longer. Often, a very fast decision can be boundedly optimal, as many apparent biases are actually optimal speed-accuracy trade-offs in real-world contexts.

9. Present Information Naturally

When trying to solve a problem or explain something, present information in a natural, real-world context (e.g., using frequencies or concrete scenarios) rather than abstract probabilities, as this significantly improves accuracy and understanding.

10. Build Procedural Knowledge

Focus on developing sophisticated procedural knowledge – the “how to act” – rather than just accumulating abstract information. Real understanding and the ability to apply advice often come from direct experience and integrating knowledge viscerally.

11. Consciously Navigate Social Norms

Be explicitly aware of social norms and their influence on your behavior. Use this awareness to deliberately choose actions based on your first principles, while also acknowledging that deviating from norms may incur social costs.

12. Embrace Paradigm Shifts

When approaching new or interdisciplinary fields, be open to shifting your existing paradigms and breaking your initial perspective. This humble approach allows for deeper understanding beyond your original assumptions.

13. Visualize Complex Ideas

Create visualizations or diagrams of complex topics to externalize and organize your understanding. This helps consolidate knowledge, overcome working memory limitations, and makes it easier for others to identify gaps or misconceptions in your thinking.

14. Share Diagrams for Feedback

Use diagrams and visualizations as a powerful tool for soliciting feedback on your understanding. Presenting your knowledge visually makes it much easier for experts to quickly identify misconceptions or gaps compared to sequential communication.

15. Master Information Design

Prioritize good information design to cut through noise and provide quick insight. Presenting complex information visually and in easily processable ways is valuable for both personal understanding and educating others.

16. Harness Visual Processing

Make use of visual representations because the human brain is highly visual. Diagrams enable non-linear processing, allowing you to grasp relationships and importance spatially, leading to better understanding and recall than linear text.

17. Connect Perception & Understanding

Understand that perception and understanding are deeply linked; as you gain expertise, formally complex thinking integrates into direct perception, allowing you to intuitively “see” solutions without extensive conscious effort.

18. Adopt Unified Rationality View

Understand that axiomatic and ecological rationality approaches are both valuable tools for discovery, approaching the same phenomena from different perspectives rather than disagreeing on facts. This allows for a more comprehensive understanding of rationality.