■ To avoid mental traps, you must think more objectively. Try arguing from first principles, getting to root causes, and seeking out the third story. ■ Realize that your intuitive interpretations of the world can often be wrong due to availability bias, fundamental attribution error, optimistic probability bias, and other related mental models that explain common errors in thinking. ■ Use Ockham’s razor and Hanlon’s razor to begin investigating the simplest objective explanations. Then test your theories by de-risking your assumptions, avoiding premature optimization. ■ Attempt to think gray
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