The brown M&M’s principle denotes that small details can sometimes serve as useful indicators of big issues. This principle is named after a rock band (Van Halen), who had a “brown M&M’s clause” in their contracts with event organizers, stipulating that the organizers must provide M&M’s in the backstage area, but that there must …
Circumlocution is the act of using more words than necessary, often with the intent of being vague, evasive, or misleading. For example, a politician might use circumlocution by giving a long and vague response to a question, in order to make it difficult for people to notice that the politician didn’t actually answer the …
Making decisions is a crucial part of life, but many people struggle to make decisions, in one way or another. Some people, for example, are naturally indecisive, and therefore struggle to make decisions in a timely manner, even when it comes to trivial things, such as choosing what to eat for dinner. Other people, on …
Making decisions is often hard, and making good decisions quickly is even harder. Accordingly, many people struggle when it comes to making big life-alternating decisions, such as which college to go to or what career path to pursue. Furthermore, some people also struggle with other types of decisions, from somewhat important decisions, such as …
Tempus fugit is a Latin phrase that means “time flies”. It’s meant to remind you that your time is limited and continuously passing, both in general and when it comes to specific things such as pursuing your goals or being with the people you care about. This concept can help guide your thoughts and …
Reverse psychology is a manipulation technique that involves getting people to do something by supposedly discouraging it. This technique can take various forms, including forbidding a target behavior, questioning a person’s ability to perform it, and encouraging its opposite. For example, a parent might use reverse psychology on their child by saying “you probably …
The Napoleon technique is a productivity technique that involves postponing dealing with something if it’s likely to get resolved without your immediate input. For example, based on the Napoleon technique, you could decide to wait a day before replying to emails that ask for your advice on non-urgent issues, if you believe that by …
A double standard is a principle or policy that is applied differently to similar things, without proper justification. Essentially, this means that a double standard occurs when two or more things, such as individuals or groups, are treated differently, when they should be treated the same way. For example, a double standard can involve …
Hubris is a personality trait that involves excessive pride, confidence, and self-importance. Accordingly, hubristic individuals tend to overestimate things such as their abilities, knowledge, importance, and likelihood of success. For example, a hubristic person might believe that they’re never wrong, that they’re guaranteed to succeed in all their ventures, or that they deserve to …
The appeal to definition (also known as the argument from dictionary) is a logical fallacy that occurs when someone’s argument is based, in a problematic manner, on the definition of a certain term as it appears in a dictionary or a similar source. The main problem with such arguments is that dictionaries are descriptive in …