Inspect the Effortless  Pick one task you do instantly. Write down three hidden steps that must be happening. If you struggle, that’s the point. Prefer the Predictive Model  Compare two explanations. Choose the one that makes a risky prediction. Bet on usefulness over elegance. Feature Hunt  Take an object you recognize easily. List its features […]
Eight Tiny Experiments for Thinking About Minds Read More »
Strip away the mystique and cognition has a simple core: symbols, operations, and interpretation. Symbols stand in for the world. Operations transform them. Interpretation puts them back into action. That loop (again and again) is thinking. Once you see this, the line between human and machine gets uncomfortable. Not because machines are magical, but because
Intelligence Is Symbol Manipulation in Disguise Read More »
A good model doesn’t end curiosity. It multiplies it. Once you adopt a structured explanation, new questions appear automatically. What would be confusing? What would break if a connection failed? What errors should cluster together? This is the quiet power of modeling. It doesn’t just describe behavior… it suggests experiments, predicts errors, and points to
Models Don’t Just Explain… They Generate Questions Read More »
Inputs don’t decide outcomes. Representations do. The same external reality can be encoded in multiple ways… and each encoding unlocks different operations. That’s why changing how something is represented can instantly change what’s possible. If you’re stuck, the issue is rarely raw information. It’s the format your mind is using to hold it. Images invite
Representation Is the Real Work Read More »
Which explanation do you trust… the elegant one or the useful one? Clean stories are comforting. They feel rational. But cognition doesn’t care about comfort. It cares about performance. Sometimes the model that sounds ridiculous explains reality better than the one that sounds tidy. That’s a warning sign worth respecting. If your explanation needs endless
When a Weird Model Beats a Clean One Read More »
What feels effortless to you is often the hardest thing to explain. Letter recognition. Face recognition. Navigating a room without bumping into things. You do these without thinking… and that’s the problem. Effortless skills hide their structure. Because when something feels trivial, we stop asking how it works. We mistake speed for simplicity. But ease
Trivial for Humans Is Hard for Machines Read More »
Rename the Frame  Take one “hard” task and rewrite it as a question in a different dimension: Change “How far until X?” to “How long until X?” Solve the second version first. If clarity appears instantly, you weren’t stuck… you were misframing. Draft the Wrong Answer   Write one deliberate wrong guess about a decision or
Eight Tiny Experiments for Thinking in Better Frames Read More »
What if your daily mistakes weren’t evidence against you… but evidence about you? A court tries to assign blame. A lab tries to understand mechanisms. When you treat your mind like a lab, getting stuck becomes informative. The interesting data isn’t only the correct answer. It’s the strategy you tried first. The assumption you didn’t
Treat Your Mind Like a Lab, Not a Court Read More »
Why do people refuse a “perfectly rational” deal? Because rationality on paper ignores the part that matters in real life… constraints. Your mind isn’t only calculating payoff. It’s calculating survivability. How long can you keep playing before you go broke… financially, emotionally, or cognitively? A choice can be mathematically attractive and practically reckless at the
Expected Value Isn’t the Same as Wisdom Read More »
What small hesitation is shaping your behavior right now? Not the big obstacle… the tiny friction you keep stepping around. The awkward name you don’t want to mispronounce. The question you don’t want to “waste time” with. The unclear next step that makes you postpone. These barriers don’t look like failures. They look like minor
Tiny Barriers Create Big Silence Read More »
