We have a bias towards using discrete mental models over continuous ones because they're more convenient. But they're not always the best choice. I've heard a lot of different definitions for "dead". Some people say living things have souls, and they die when the soul leaves. Other people say death...
When people disagree about a decision, they are either disagreeing about 1) the information they have, 2) what they value, or both. As a child, I noticed a lot of the disagreements children had, were over what was "better". Decisions like which board game to play, which movie to watch,...
The key to mastering any complex skill is to learn it in layers - only progressing to the next layer when the previous has become muscle memory. Have you ever driven from one place to another on "autopilot"? Have you ever caught a ball without thinking? Have you ever completely...
We have a bias towards using discrete mental models over continuous ones because they're more convenient. But they're not always the best choice.
I've heard a lot of different definitions for "dead". Some people say living things have souls, and they die when the soul leaves. Other people say death is when the heart stopped beating. Some people say it's when the "brain dies".
None of these definitions ever satisfy me. There are always questions people can't answer. What about someone whose heart stops beating but starts again? Can we look at a scan of someone's brain and point to the moment they die? What if we revive someone from cryonic suspension - does... (read 520 more words →)
When people disagree about a decision, they are either disagreeing about 1) the information they have, 2) what they value, or both.
As a child, I noticed a lot of the disagreements children had, were over what was "better". Decisions like which board game to play, which movie to watch, or what food to eat came down to who could convince most of the group of what was "better". The problem was that there usually wasn't a clear winner for anything. How do you decide if Pokemon is better than Dragon Ball Z? I eventually realised that "better" actually just meant "I feel like doing this", and the reasons which followed didn't matter... (read 770 more words →)
The key to mastering any complex skill is to learn it in layers - only progressing to the next layer when the previous has become muscle memory.
Have you ever driven from one place to another on "autopilot"? Have you ever caught a ball without thinking? Have you ever completely forgotten if you did something routine like brush your teeth or lock the door but find you did when you checked? If I ask you what 2 + 2 is, does the answer appear in your mind instantly?
All of these are examples of doing something almost without thinking - not always using muscles, but still a kind of muscle memory. When we do... (read 464 more words →)