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Hammers and Nails — LessWrong

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The most important idea I've blogged about so far is Taking Ideas Seriously, which is itself a generalization of Zvi's More Dakka. This post is an elaboration of how to fully integrate a new idea. I draw a dichotomy between Hammers and Nails: A Hammer is someone who picks one strategy and uses it to solve as many problems as possible. A Nail is someone who picks one problem and tries all the strategies until it gets solved. Human beings are generally Nails, fixating on one specific problem at a time and throwing their entire toolkit at it. A Nail gets good at solving important problems slowly and laboriously but can fail to recognize the power and generality of his tools. Sometimes it's better to be a Hammer. Great advice is always a hammer: an organizing principle that works across many domains. To get the most mileage out of a single hammer, don't stop at using it to tackle your current pet problem. Use it everywhere. Ideas don't get worn down from use. Regardless of which you are at

x Hammers and Nails — LessWrong Hammertime Techniques Taking Ideas Seriously More Dakka Rationality Curated 113 Hammers and Nails by alkjash 23rd Jan 2018 Linkpost for radimentary.wordpress.com 4 min read 36 113 If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The most important idea I've blogged about so far is Taking Ideas Seriously , which is itself a generalization of Zvi's More Dakka . This post is an elaboration of how to fully integrate a new idea. I draw a dichotomy between Hammers and Nails: A Hammer is someone who picks one strategy and uses it to solve as many problems as

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