Clear Thinking
Parrish on the ordinary moments where a decision is really made
A 2023 book about the small moments that settle most outcomes. They pass long before anyone thinks they are deciding anything, and its claim is that people rarely reason clearly under pressure because four defaults get there first: emotion, ego, social pressure and inertia. Willpower is not the answer. Position is, plus automatic rules that convert the behavior you want into the behavior you get without deciding. Later chapters cover defining the problem before hunting for solutions, setting criteria in advance, and knowing when a decision can wait. Most readers keep it as a reference for consequential calls rather than read it once and shelve it.
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Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Shane ParrishRecommends
Writer · Farnam Street and The Knowledge Project
His 2023 book makes the case that you can out-position people rather than out-think them, and that most poor decisions come from running on autopilot. Automatic rules, he says, are how you turn the behavior you want into your default one.
Source: fs.blog: Clear Thinking
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Book entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.