I often observe people making decisions if their odds of being right are greater than 50 percent. (1/5)
What they fail to see is how much better off they'd be if they raised their chances even more (you can almost always improve your odds of being right by doing things that will give you more information). (2/5)
The expected value gain from raising the probability of being right from 51 percent to 85 percent (i.e., by 34 percentage points) is seventeen times more than raising the odds of being right from 49 percent (which is probably wrong) (3/5)
to 51 percent (which is only a little more likely to be right). Think of the probability as a measure of how often you're likely to be wrong. Raising the probability of being right by 34 percentage points means that a third of your bets will switch from losses to wins. (4/5)
That's why it pays to stress-test your thinking, even when you're pretty sure you're right. #principleoftheday (5/5)
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Seek the advice of the most believable people you can find. If you don't know how to judge who the most believable people are, seek the advice of others about how to do that, such as people who have already chosen such believable people. (1/6)
By questioning experts individually and encouraging them to have thoughtful disagreement with each other that I can listen to and ask questions about, I both raise my probability of being right and become much better educated. (2/6)
This is most true when the experts disagree with me or with each other. Smart people who can thoughtfully disagree are the greatest teachers, far better than a professor assigned to stand in front of a board and lecture at you. (3/6)
These competitions or wars reward the winners and penalize the losers, which reinforce their strengthenings or their weakenings. They vary in severity from healthy competitions to all-out wars. (1/4)
The progression tends to be from the first one on the list (trade/economic wars) toward the last one on the list (military wars), with each growing in intensity. Then, when a military hot war begins, all four of the other types of wars are applied full-on and weaponized. (2/4)
For these reasons, by monitoring the progression and intensities of the conflicts one can pretty well anticipate what is likely to come next. (3/4)
In writing my book, I had the great privilege of having private conversations with a number of knowledgeable and plugged-in people I respect. (1/5)
Now that the book is out, I've had a chance to speak again with many of them in public settings so that we can share our thoughts on the state of the world so that you, and we all, can deal with things better. (2/5)
This is my conversation with Larry Summers about the changing world order, which deals with the depreciating value of money due to the overspending that is being financed by debt and money printing. @LHSummers (3/5)
Before moving forward with a new plan, take the time to reflect on how the machine has been working up till now. (1/4)
Sometimes people have problems putting current conditions into perspective or projecting into the future. Sometimes they forget who or what caused things to go well or poorly. (2/4)
By asking them to "tell the story" of how we got here, or by telling the story yourself, you highlight important items that were done well or poorly in relation to their consequences, draw attention to the bigger picture and the overarching goals, (3/4)
This chart shows my index of conflict just between the US and China since 1970. (1/4)
Based on what we have been seeing, the United States and China are clearly in four types of war (trade/economic war, technology war, capital war, & geopolitical war), though not intensely but they are intensifying. They are not yet in the fifth type of war (military war). (2/4)
As shown in the previous cases, in particular the 1930–1945 case, these four types of wars precede military wars by about five to 10 years. Though the risks of military war seem relatively low, they are increasing. (3/4)