Notes on thinking, learning, decision making, and occasionally running. Simple ideas, mostly obvious.
We are all subject to illusions, whether we are aware of them or not. In fact, the more convincing the illusion, the less aware we probably are. Our perception of competence in others is often deceiving and misleading. It can be very difficult to judge someone else’s actual competence in an area well outside your […]
Imagine a person listening to a lecture or presentation on a difficult topic outside their field repeatedly. They do this so often in fact that they memorize all the words. Moreover, they do that so well that they eventually volunteer to give that presentation themself. What is their relationship to the knowledge conveyed in the […]
I like trail running, especially on rugged mountain trails. There is something about the dirt and rock, the potential of wildlife, perhaps easygoing or exerting yourself for several hours, while being out in all kinds of weather. The more time you spend on an activity, the more opportunity you get for things to happen. Sometimes […]
Mental models are representations of a separate reality, “a simplified explanation of how something works.” They are a “way of looking at the world […] the set of tools that you use to think.“ We inevitably all have and use mental models. They shape how we look at and reason about the world around us. […]
In the introduction of Alan M. Davis’ 201 Principles of Software Development, the author wrote: If we were to examine the set of software engineering principles from 1964 they would look downright silly today (for example, always use short variable names, or do whatever it takes to make your program smaller). Today’s principles will look […]
Imagine you are walking along out and about, come across a fence, and, eventually see a turtle positioned on top of a fence post. I am guessing you might raise your eyebrows in surprise. This is how William R. Brody quotes the story of the turtle on a fence post, in the book Uncommon Sense: […]
On a weekend day, probably a Saturday, almost ten years ago, we were out and about on a hike with four or five other couples who likewise had brought their toddler-age children. I do not remember much of the outing, except for bits and pieces of a conversation with another dad, who I had just […]
During a press conference on February 12, 2002, i.e. during the months leading up to the Iraq War, then US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave remarks in a response to questions about evidence for weapons of mass destruction. Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, […]
Take a look, perhaps walk around a bit. Are there windows or doors with glass panes? Check them out. What is it like to look through them? How is the view? The cleaner the glass, the less of it you see – and the better your view through it, right? People wash and clean their […]
I love this quote, attributed to Sir Isaac Newton: What we know is a drop; what we don’t know is an ocean. The image is well-chosen. Compared to a mere drop, the ocean is vastly, unfathomably larger. Not only that, the drop would utterly, unrecognizably disappear within the ocean. This lends itself well to revisiting […]