Rationality is not the absence of emotion. It is the disciplined application of structured reasoning to navigate a world that rewards clarity and punishes self-deception. Begin here.
Every belief is a hypothesis. Every hypothesis demands evidence. The rational method is not a single algorithm but an ecosystem of practices: Bayesian updating, steel-manning opposing views, premortem analysis, and the relentless pursuit of cruxes — the precise points where minds can change.
The strength of a conclusion is bounded by the quality of its evidence. Anecdotes are not data. Correlation is not causation. The map is not the territory. These are not cliches — they are load-bearing walls in the architecture of clear thought.
All models are wrong. Some models are useful. The rationalist holds many models simultaneously, weighting each by its predictive power. Mental models are tools — disposable, replaceable, and never to be confused with reality itself.
Rationality is a practice, not a state. It demands daily calibration: questioning assumptions, seeking disconfirming evidence, updating priors, and maintaining the humility to say "I was wrong." The reward is not certainty — it is reduced wrongness.