MEPX
Chapter 10 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What it actually is
  2. 2Reading a claim
  3. 3Weighing evidence
  4. 4Judging sources
  5. 5Your own thumb on the scale
  6. 6Claims with numbers
  7. 7Cause and effect
  8. 8Persuasion techniques
  9. 9Information online
  10. 10Building the habit

Chapter 10 of 10

Building the habit

Making it routine rather than effortful.

Small practices

State the strongest opposing case before deciding. Write down predictions with confidence levels. Keep a note of times you were confidently wrong and why.

  • Say I do not know when it is true; it is the phrase that keeps the rest credible.
  • Change your mind out loud, so the people around you learn it is allowed.

Proportion

Not every claim deserves an investigation. Spend effort in proportion to what turns on being right, and hold the rest lightly rather than pretending to certainty either way.