Unfortunately, though, I think that you missed one of the most important skills for safer reasoning—recognizing and acknowledging assumptions (and double-checking that they are still valid). Many of the most dangerous failures of reasoning occur when a normally safe assumption is carried over to conditions where it is incorrect. Diving three feet into water that is unobstructed and at least five feet deep won’t lead to a broken neck—unless the temperature is below zero centigrade.
I, too, really appreciated this post.
Unfortunately, though, I think that you missed one of the most important skills for safer reasoning—recognizing and acknowledging assumptions (and double-checking that they are still valid). Many of the most dangerous failures of reasoning occur when a normally safe assumption is carried over to conditions where it is incorrect. Diving three feet into water that is unobstructed and at least five feet deep won’t lead to a broken neck—unless the temperature is below zero centigrade.