I.

Epistemic status: I’m making a big claim based on little more than how useful it's been to me personally. Pushback is encouraged. That said, I’m also putting this forward as one tool; if your brain is like my brain then you may find this a very useful tool indeed, while other people may not find it's something they use.

It has been written that the fundamental question of rationality is “What do you think you know and how do you think you know it?” There is a further claim that a question of equal importance is “Do you know what you are doing, and why you are doing it?”

I would like to propose a third fundamental question, which I believe completes a rule of three: “What are you about to do and what do you think will happen next?”

That sentence is a Sazen. The rest [...]

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First published:
November 15th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4bwuAqZjt6tpuqnga/the-third-fundamental-question

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“The Third Fundamental Question” by Screwtape

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“The Third Fundamental Question” by Screwtape