A “Razor” is a rule of thumb that simplifies decision making.
Here are 16 Razors every person should know:
• Occam's Razor
The easiest answer is often the right answer.
Don't complicate your thinking when you don't need to.
If you hear a meowing sound under the sofa, it's probably the cat, not a hidden speaker playing cat sounds.
• Hanlon's Razor
Don't attribute to malice what you can attribute to stupidity.
If your little brother colors on your homework, it's probably not because he hates you.
It's more likely he didn't know how important your homework was.
• Sagan's Razor
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
The weight of proof rests with the person making a claim, and the more unusual the assertion, the more substantial the evidence needed.
You should ask for solid proof if someone says they saw a unicorn.
• Parkinson's Law
Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
Setting tighter deadlines gets tasks done more quickly and efficiently.
If you have one day to clean your room, it will take one day. You'll probably get it done in one hour if you have one hour.
• Hofstadter's Law
In contradiction to Parkinson's Law, this one says things usually take longer than we think.
If you think you'll finish your homework in an hour, it might actually take two hours.
Often, the last 10% of a task takes as much time as the first 90% did.
• Anchoring Bias
The first thing you learn or see (the "anchor") influences what you think next.
Like guessing a jar has 30 candies because the first person guessed 25, when there really are 100.
• Pareto Principle
80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts.
For example, you'll get 80% of your kid's room clean by just picking up the toys.
• Eisenhower's Matrix
Dwight Eisenhower was the definition of PRODUCTIVE and once said:
“I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
Stephen Covey repackaged it as the Eisenhower Matrix:
• Gall's Law
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.
Great things start simple, like learning to crawl before you walk and then run.
• Dunning-Kruger Effect
Unskilled Individuals overestimate their ability and experts underestimate their ability.
When you first learn something, you may think you're an expert even though you're not.
Like all the people online who become "experts" on every topic of the day.
• The Halo Effect
When you like one thing about someone, you start to think everything about them is good.
This one can be a challenge for people who become very good in one area of life and automatically think they're great in other areas.
• Hawthorne Effect
When people know they're being watched, they work harder.
Like cleaning your room faster when your mom is watching.
When you want to perform at your best, set up a friend to work side by side with you to keep you accountable.
• Sayre's Law
People often argue the most about things that matter the least.
Spend enough time on Twitter and this one becomes obvious.
• Chesterton's Fence
Don't change something until you understand why it's there.
Don't take down a fence in your yard until you learn what it's keeping out.
• Sunk Cost Fallacy
You keep doing something because you've already spent time or money on it.
Like eating more dessert even when you're full because you paid for it.
• The Streisand Effect
When you try to hide something, it often gets more attention.
If you spill juice and hide it with a rug, people will probably notice the rug and find the spill.
When you censor someone, you actually highlight them.
This has been a "cheat sheet" to share some of my favorite razors with you to simplify your decisions.
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A lot of you have pointed out a couple I've wrote about elsewhere, which are:
Hitchen's Razor:
That which is asserted without evidence may be dismissed without evidence.
Which is related to Brandolini's Law:
The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.
With respect to the current state of SMB Twitter and RE Twitter, it can be seen being applied in this post by Xavier,
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