Checklist

“A checklist is a type of informational job aid used to reduce failure by compensating for potential limits of human memory and attention.”

Solving a difficult problem is by its definition difficult. Many times we need to think of it in different terms and view it from many different angles in order to solve it. A broad and multidisciplinary education can help us to solve such problems, but there is the problem of human memory. The limits of human memory prevent us from recalling all the great ideas that we have learned and we need to apply to solving such a problem. A checklist helps us to overcome the limitations of human memory and it will make sure that we can apply all the ideas that we have learned over time.

The checklist that follows is a summary of great ideas I have learned during the years and can be applied in problem solving. The ideas are taken from many diverse disciplines. This list is work in progress as I study and learn more over the years. The items on the list are not in any particular order.

  

1) Easy solutions
Sometimes there is an easy solution to a problem and there is no need for complications.

2) Invert
Turn a problem on its head and look at the opposite of it.

3) Synthesis
You need to combine pieces across many disciplines to solve a problem even if the problem belongs to a single discipline.

4) Why?
Always ask why, why, why.

5) And then what?
You need to look for the next steps and what follows.

6) Multiple order effects
Consider the effects of the actions you plan to take and then the effects of the effects and then their effects and even more effects.

7) Social proof
From psychology, you need to consider what effect does social proof have on the behaviour of the people involved.

8 ) Incentive caused bias
From psychology, you need to consider what incentives are in effects for the people involved.

9) First conclusion bias
From psychology, many times people get stuck at their first solution that they discover and they do not want to change their thinking.

10) Creeping determinism
From psychology, in retrospect what was going to happen was inevitable. When you look at the past many things look easier to explain from the present, even though you would not be able to predict them at the time.

11) Confirmation bias
From psychology, we tend to favour information that agrees with our opinion.

12) Self interest
From biology, you need to consider that people have a string self interest.

13) Survivor bias
From biology, we tend to look at the winners and learn from them and we tend to forget about all the others who tried and failed.

14) Autocatalysis
From chemistry, a lot of effects have a positive cumulative effect on themselves.

15) Backup system
From engineering, many times there is a need for a backup system.

16) Breakpoints
From engineering, certain things can take a lot of strain until a certain point. When you exceed this point they break. This is the breakpoint.

17) Critical mass
From physics, some times you have to keep increasing the quantity of a property until you get the desired effect.

18) Scale
From economics, size does matter and affects results.

19) Theory of Alchemy
Based on the ideas presented in the book Unlimited Wealth by Paul Zane Pilzer.

Supply Side Alchemy

  • First law – By enabling us to make productive use of particular raw materials, technology determines what constitutes a physical resource.
  • Second law – Technology determines our supply of existing physical resources by determining both the efficiency with which we use resources and our ability to find, obtain, distribute, and store them.
  • Third law – The rate at which a society’s technology advances is determined by the relative level of its ability to process information.
  • W=P*T^n – Wealth equals to physical resources multiplied by technology and technology has an exponential relationship upon itself.

Demand Side Alchemy

  • Fourth law – By providing us with new products and processes that change the way in which we live, technology determines what constitutes a need, and hence the nature of consumer demand.
  • Fifth law – Technology determines the level of consumer demand by determining the price at which goods can be sold.

Sixth law – The immediate economic potential for an individual, an industry, or a society can be explained by examining the technology gap, the best practices possible with current knowledge, and the practices in actual use.

20) Parkinson’s law
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

21) Pareto principle
From economics, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

22) Compound interest
From economics, causes exponential growth as time passes.

23) The law of large numbers
The higher the number of times something is performed, the more likely you will receive something close to the average of the results. In addition, the larger the number you have the more you have to work to grow that number.

24) Pavlovian association
From psychology, when one behavior leads to another.

25) Scarcity
From psychology, people are motivated by what they stand to lose if they don’t act now.

26) Man with a hammer syndrome
Need to have multiple models to deal with problems. Do not bend reality to fit your only model.

27) Thermodynamics model of equilibrium
From physics, things tend to move towards a state of equilibrium.

28) Positive feedback
From physics, an event feeds on itself to grow.

29) Evolution
From biology, experiment with new things to find what works. Many times things work by accident.

30) Law of demand and supply
From economics, the demand will rise/fall according to the supply and vice versa.

31) Problem of induction
How do we know that what we have observed from given objects and events suffices to enable us to figure out their other properties?

32) Narrative fallacy
We fool ourselves with stories that cater to our Platonic thirst for distinct patterns.

33) Silence evidence
We do not observe all the others who tried and failed and they are not part of history.

34) Errors in logic
We must remember that “A implies B” does not necessary mean that “B implies A”. “Absence of evidence” is different from “evidence of absence”.

35) Domain specificity
React to a piece of information on its logic merit and not on the framework that it surrounds it. Do not take the escalators to go to the gym.

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