Useful Concepts You Should Know (Part 3)
A curated collection of cognitive biases, logical fallacies, and intellectual tools—from Taleb's insight on overcoming prejudice to Popper's falsifiability principle—designed to sharpen critical thinking and guard against self-deception.
𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 (𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟑)
21. Taleb’s Surgeons:
You're considering 2 people for a job, one pretty, one ugly. In achievements they're equal. Who do you hire? The pretty one? No! The ugly one. They accomplished just as much while having a bias against them. Always factor in other people's prejudices.
22. Alder’s Razor:
If something can't be settled by experiment or observation, it's probably not worthy of debate. This is because, without empirical evidence, there is just "your word against mine," and everyone wants the last word. Following this rule will save so much time.
23. Escher Sentences:
Linguistic constructions that appear to make sense, until you reread more closely. Example: “More people have been to Russia than I have.” A good reminder of how easily your brain accepts nonsense.
24. The Never-Ending Now:
We're forever chasing what's new, ignoring anything older than 24 hrs, such as the accumulated wisdom of human history. We think the best info is the most recent, but often it's the oldest because this has withstood the test of time. h/t: @david_perell
25. 3 Men Make a Tiger:
People will believe anything if enough people say it. It's why some journos try to portray their own views as common. E.g. Instead of "I hate Elon Musk's hairstyle" they'd write "Musk Condemned for Hairstyle" and cherry-pick examples from social media.
26. Maslow's Hammer:
People disproportionately rely on what they understand to explain what they don't, so beware of the intellectual who's just published a new book, as they'll try to apply the book's ideas to *everything*.
27. Naval's Razor:
If you can't decide between 2 choices, take the path that's more difficult/painful in the short term. Doing this will counteract "hyperbolic discounting," the brain's tendency to overestimate short-term pain and underestimate long term pain. h/t: @naval
28. Okrent's Law:
We all know how biased journalists can be, but even those who attempt to be objective can spread misinformation because the attempt to be even-handed often leads journalists to treat wrong opinions with more respect than they deserve.
29. Popper’s Falsifiability Principle:
For a theory to be considered scientific, it must be possible to disprove or refute it. As such, for each of your beliefs, you should have a clear idea of what would persuade you you're wrong, otherwise, your belief is immune to reason.
30. Gurwinder's Theory of Bespoke Bullshit:
Many don’t have an opinion until they’re asked for it, at which point they cobble together a viewpoint from whim & half-remembered hearsay, before deciding that this 2-minute-old makeshift opinion will be their new hill to die on.
Written in mid-2022, this piece reflects a moment of sustained interest in popular intellectual frameworks and epistemic hygiene, particularly among readers navigating information overload and the erosion of shared truth.
These concepts remain vital precisely because they name patterns that shape thought regardless of era: the brain's weakness for recency bias, the danger of unfalsifiable belief, the way sufficient repetition rewires conviction. The piece's calm analytical tone—naming the mechanics rather than decrying them—makes the insights usable rather than merely cautionary.