Preserving Optionality: Preparing for the Unknown
We’re often advised to excel at one thing. But as the future gets harder to predict, preserving optionality allows us to pivot when the road ahead crumbles. *** How do we prepare for a world that …
Knowledge
General James Mattis: Arm Yourself With Books
How many situations will you face that have not already been experienced by someone else? Billions of people, thousands of years … probably not too many. It’s been done. Luckily, sometimes those …
Francis Bacon and the Four Idols of the Mind
Among the Enlightenment founders, his spirit is the one that most endures. It informs us across four centuries that wemust understand nature both around us and within ourselves, in order to set …
B.H. Liddell Hart and the Study of Truth and History
B.H. Liddell Hart (1895-1970) was many things, but above all, he was a military historian. He wrote tracts on Sherman, Scipio, Rommel, and on military strategy itself. His work influenced Neville …
Richard Feynman on Refusing an Honorary Degree, Being Driven, and Understanding his Circle of Competence
Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track is a wonderful collection of letters written to and from the physicist and professor Richard Feynman—champion of understanding, explainer, an …
The Two Types of Knowledge: The Max Planck/Chauffeur Test
Charlie Munger, the billionaire business partner of Warren Buffett, frequently tells the story below to illustrate how to distinguish between the two types of knowledge: real knowledge and pretend …
Richard Feynman: The Difference Between Knowing the Name of Something and Knowing Something
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was no ordinary genius. He believed that “the world is much more interesting than any one discipline.” His explanations — on why questions, why trains stay on the tracks as …
Bird By Bird: Anne Lamott offers Some Instructions on Writing and Life
I stumbled across Anne Lamott’s beautiful Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Lamott’s advice is down to earth, real, and void of any pretentiousness. In fact, it’s …
The Difference Between “Knowing That” and “Knowing How”
The focus right now in our education system is on a certain type of knowledge: “knowing that” as opposed to “knowing how.” The difference is somewhat experiential. Matthew …
The Half-life of Facts
Facts change all the time. Smoking has gone from doctor recommended to deadly. We used to think the Earth was the center of the universe and that Pluto was a planet. For decades we were convinced that …
Donald Norman on the Two Types of Knowledge
An interesting excerpt from Donald Norman’s book The Design of Everyday Things on two types of knowledge. People function through their use of two kinds of knowledge: knowledge of and knowledge …
The Hidden Link Between Scientific Research and Investing
This is a fascinating expert from “How Managers Express Their Creativity” by Herbert Simon that deals with the value of information. Simon compares successful scientific research …