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Adept

Clearance level 2.

  • 12 / 12
  • No visual on file
    Naming & Sound Entry #0558

    The reason an unpronounceable name loses word of mouth

    A name that is hard to say is harder to recommend, and difficulty of pronunciation is read as risk rather than as unfamiliarity.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0558

    Difficulty of processing is misread as a property of the thing being processed.

    Open file
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    Market Signals Entry #0402

    The reason a degree signals more than it teaches

    Part of a qualification’s value comes from what finishing it proves about the person, rather than from what the person learned inside it.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0402

    A credential can be worth paying for even where the teaching is not, provided it is hard to obtain.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Habit Loops Entry #0309

    Why willpower explains less than environment

    People who score highest on self-control report resisting fewer temptations rather than winning more fights. The difference was arranged in advance.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0309

    Self-control measured as struggle predicts less than self-control arranged as the absence of struggle.

    Open file
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    Platform Mechanics Entry #0283

    The reason a metric becomes a target and then a lie

    Any measure good enough to manage by is good enough to game, and the gaming arrives through exactly the same channel as the improvement.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0283

    A measure used as a target stops describing the thing it was chosen to describe.

    Open file
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    Attention & Memory Entry #0196

    Why testing yourself beats rereading

    Rereading feels like learning and mostly is not. The method that feels least productive is the one that leaves the most behind.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0196

    Fluency is a sensation, not a measurement. The method that feels like it is failing is frequently the one doing the work.

    Open file
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    Cognitive Bias Entry #0107

    Why the first number in a negotiation outlives the argument

    Both sides argue for an hour and land near the figure one of them said in the first minute. The argument was real. It was also decorative.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0107

    Anchoring is not the failure to move. It is that the whole conversation happened inside a region somebody else chose before it began.

    Open file
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    Statistical Illusions Entry #0441

    The reason per capita reverses many rankings

    Dividing by population removes size from a comparison. Since size drives most totals, the ranking that survives is often the opposite of the original.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0441

    A total measures magnitude and a rate measures intensity. Which one is published decides most of the ranking.

    Open file
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    Statistical Illusions Entry #0439

    The reason a forecast range matters more than its midpoint

    A single number implies a precision the forecast does not have. The width of the interval is the part that says how much the forecast actually knows.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0439

    Two forecasts with the same midpoint and different widths are different forecasts. Only one of those numbers usually survives.

    Open file
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    Scarcity & Queues Entry #0467

    Why a raffle allocates differently than a price

    A lottery gives everyone the same chance and no way to express how much they need the thing. A price does the reverse, and each ignores what the other records.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0467

    Every allocation rule declares which claims count. A lottery says all equally; a price says according to capacity to pay.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Scarcity & Queues Entry #0466

    The reason first come first served changes who arrives

    A queue does not distribute a good neutrally. It charges in time, so it selects the people for whom time is the cheapest thing to spend.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0466

    A queue charges in time. It allocates to those with the least valuable hours, not to those with the greatest need.

    Open file